Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 376.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,858 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,838 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised 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 purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Iridium Communications by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 25.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,796 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of IRDM opened at $27.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.14 and a 1-year high of $35.85.

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

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

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.