Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Takes Position in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 631,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,336,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth approximately $247,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,627 shares of the technology company's stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 12,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,054 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,143,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 25th. BWS Financial reduced 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. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded down $0.28 on Friday, reaching $24.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,575,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,392,340. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $28.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 13.20%. The business had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Iridium Communications's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. 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 yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

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.