Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 110.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,565 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,772 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 25.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,796 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Iridium Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

IRDM stock opened at $27.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.38. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.14 and a 52 week high of $35.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $212.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.78 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 15.66%. Research analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total transaction of $356,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 241,030 shares in the company, valued at $6,876,585.90. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.