Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,400 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $6,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,639,000 after purchasing an additional 152,232 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,508,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $76,385,000 after purchasing an additional 33,074 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after purchasing an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,609,649 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $49,014,000 after purchasing an additional 11,117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $29.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.14 and a 1-year high of $41.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The company had revenue of $212.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.68 million. Research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total value of $1,127,253.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 254,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. The trade was a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $130,301.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,388,855.56. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services.