Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see just how much).
Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM).
How are hedge funds trading Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM). Royce & Associates has a $8 million position in the stock, comprising 0% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners, with a $4 million position; the fund has 3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) headfirst. T2 Partners, managed by Whitney Tilson, initiated the biggest call position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM). T2 Partners had 0 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new IRDM position is Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners.
How are insiders trading Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) has seen 3 unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM). These stocks are IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT), Lumos Networks Corp (NASDAQ:LMOS), Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG), RigNet Inc (NASDAQ:RNET), and Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE:PGI). This group of stocks belong to the diversified communication services industry and their market caps are similar to IRDM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| IDT Corporation (NYSE:IDT) | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| Lumos Networks Corp (NASDAQ:LMOS) | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG) | 14 | 0 | 7 |
| RigNet Inc (NASDAQ:RNET) | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE:PGI) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
