Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 83,454 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 148.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,636 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 83,454 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.12% of Iridium Communications worth $4,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the technology company's stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew 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 worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 price target for the company.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.02. The company had a trading volume of 606,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,690. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.30 and a 200 day moving average of $28.95. Iridium Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $35.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $203.78 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 15.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 58.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total value of $356,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 241,030 shares in the company, valued at $6,876,585.90. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.