Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases 8,320 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 18.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,951 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,320 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $1,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after acquiring an additional 385,872 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,323,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 130,370 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after buying an additional 21,522 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at about $1,939,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter worth about $1,899,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $31.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $41.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.68 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 14.09%. As a group, research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at $5,388,855.56. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Company 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.