Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Purchases 329,915 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,827,580 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 329,915 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned 2.48% of Iridium Communications worth $82,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,060 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,731 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 25.9% during 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 period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 76,836 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 866 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 2.7 %

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

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Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $212.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.78 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. On average, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 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 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 (DPR) is presently 58.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IRDM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 241,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,876,585.90. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

About Iridium Communications

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.

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