Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. by 16.7% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.21% of the company worth $6.35 million.
• Iridium Communications announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.14 to $0.15, representing a 3.4% yield and a payout ratio of 56.57%.
• Equity analysts have varying opinions on the stock, with recent target price adjustments ranging from $16.00 to $40.00, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,231 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,191 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Iridium Communications worth $6,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 129.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. BWS Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $25.00 to $16.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Raymond James Financial lowered Iridium Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.21. 915,070 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,616,746. The company's 50 day moving average price is $24.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $35.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $214.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

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.