Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 11,117 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,609,649 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,117 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.41% of Iridium Communications worth $49,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 231,976 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,068,000 after buying an additional 21,769 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at about $544,000. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,323,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth about $1,939,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $28.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.34. Iridium Communications Inc. has a one year low of $24.14 and a one year high of $41.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.68 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total transaction of $130,301.60. Following the sale, the insider now 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. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IRDM. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Profile

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.