Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock is currently listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “IRDM.” As of February 9, 2024, there were 135 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
Stockholders are entitled to receive, when and if declared by the Company’s Board of Directors from time to time, dividends and other distributions in cash, stock or property from the Company’s assets or funds legally and contractually available for such purposes. In each of December 2022, May 2023, September 2023, and December 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.13 per share of common stock. The dividends, which were paid on March 30, 2023, June 30, 2023, September 29, 2023, and December 29, 2023, to stockholders of record as of March 15, 2023, June 15, 2023, September 15, 2023, and December 15, 2023, respectively, resulted in total payments of $64.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The liability related to dividends on common shares underlying unvested RSUs was $1.3 million as of December 31, 2023.
We currently expect that comparable cash dividends will continue to be paid in the future, although future dividends will depend on our earnings, capital requirements, financial conditions and other factors considered relevant by the Board. On February 2, 2024, the Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.13 per share, payable on March 29, 2024 to holders of record as of March 15, 2024. The Board of Directors plans to increase the quarterly dividend to $0.14 per share starting with the second quarter 2024 dividend.
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Stock Price Performance Graph
The graph below compares the cumulative total return of our common stock from December 31, 2018 through December 31, 2023 , with the comparable cumulative return of three indices, the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and the Nasdaq Telecommunications Index. The graph plots the growth in value of an initial investment of $100 in each of our common stock, the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and the Nasdaq Telecommunications Index over the indicated time periods. The stock price performance shown on the graph is not necessarily indicative of future price performance. The following stock price performance graph shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, nor shall this information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other document, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing or document.
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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table presents our monthly share repurchases for the quarter ended December 31, 2023:
Period (a)
Total number of shares purchased (b)
Average price paid per share (c)
Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs (d)
Maximum dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs
October 1-31 255,843 $41.23 255,843 $375.1 million
November 1-30 844,963 (1)
$37.37 816,963 $344.6 million
December 1-31 261,264 $40.37 261,264 $334.0 million
Total 1,362,070 $38.67 1,334,070 —
(1) Includes 28,000 shares purchased on November 20, 2023 at an average price of $37.01 per share by Matthew J. Desch, our chief executive officer, who may be deemed an affiliated purchaser.
To date, our board of directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $1,000.0 million of our common stock through December 31, 2025. Except for the shares purchased by Mr. Desch, all shares listed above were purchased under these authorizations in open market transactions.
Item 6. [Reserved].