Skylands Capital LLC Sells 52,700 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Skylands Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,800 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 52,700 shares during the period. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,533,000 after acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,343,670 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,840,000 after purchasing an additional 27,907 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.1%

IRDM stock opened at $37.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.83 and a 200-day moving average of $22.42. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.73, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 60.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $67,419.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on IRDM shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Company 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.