Legal & General Group Plc Takes $20.85 Million Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 380,075 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,847,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 107.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. William Blair cut Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total value of $680,521.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 35,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,804,772.81. This represents a 27.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 85,454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total value of $4,296,627.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,179,814.76. This represents a 23.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 375,919 shares of company stock worth $18,878,997 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM opened at $46.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.85. 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 Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Iridium Communications Profile

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.