Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Sold by Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.

Key Points

• Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its Iridium Communications stake by 74.1% in the fourth quarter, selling over 3.19 million shares and ending with about 1.07% ownership valued at $19.4 million.
• Iridium reported quarterly EPS of $0.20, missing analyst expectations, while revenue came in at $219.06 million, slightly above forecasts and up 2.0% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share payable June 30, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus "Hold" with an average target price of $34.00.

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,117,952 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 3,195,128 shares during the quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. owned approximately 1.07% of Iridium Communications worth $19,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 323.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 310,797 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 237,456 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 8.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 612,610 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,696,000 after purchasing an additional 50,239 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,642 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 224,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $45.10 on Wednesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $41.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.89. Iridium Communications Inc has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $53.83.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 60.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,480,684. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IRDM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.00.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company's unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium's core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.

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