Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 97.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,966 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,565,538 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,893,145 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $106,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,093 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,088,053 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $60,595,000 after buying an additional 567,164 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,062,066 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,841,000 after buying an additional 149,606 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,827,411 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,031,000 after buying an additional 280,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,711,039 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $49,656,000 after buying an additional 291,196 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Iridium Communications stock opened at $24.46 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.81 and its 200 day moving average is $27.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The company had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. BWS Financial lowered their price objective on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair raised Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.80.

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.