416,442 Shares in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Acquired by Man Group plc

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 416,442 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,842,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $91,265,000 after purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,642 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 224,322 shares in the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter worth $7,369,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $2,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, insider Kathleen A. Morgan sold 33,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $1,671,217.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,871 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,254.85. The trade was a 21.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy James Last sold 19,521 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total transaction of $982,687.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 93,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,702,410.42. The trade was a 17.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock worth $18,878,997 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Iridium Communications stock opened at $47.20 on Thursday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on IRDM shares. William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. New Street Research raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

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.