Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,837,714 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 973,870 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.10% of Iridium Communications worth $268,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 37.2% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 3.7% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 13,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 14.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 8,100 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 3.8% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,750 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $25.01 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.76. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12 month low of $19.91 and a 12 month high of $35.85.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a boost 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 2.4%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRDM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BWS Financial decreased their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications 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.