469,000 Shares in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Purchased by Sculptor Capital LP

Sculptor Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 469,000 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,725,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 11,985 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 37,465 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,345,000 after buying an additional 33,191 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after buying an additional 75,060 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on IRDM shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. William Blair downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 209,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $10,507,681.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,928,127.32. This trade represents a 78.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total transaction of $680,521.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 35,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,804,772.81. This trade represents a 27.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,878,997. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Iridium Communications stock opened at $47.10 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a 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.