Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given New $26.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on IRDM. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $23.07 on Wednesday. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 year high of $33.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 2.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.30 and its 200-day moving average is $19.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.61.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 651.1% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002,232 shares during the period. Man Group plc grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 226.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,485 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 21.7% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company’s unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium’s core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.