Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 130.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 396,642 shares worth about $7.0 million.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: Barclays raised its price target to $36 and gave an overweight rating, but the overall consensus remains Hold with an average target of $26.
• Iridium reported Q1 earnings of $0.20 per share, missing estimates of $0.27, while revenue came in roughly in line at $219.1 million and rose 2% year over year.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 130.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 396,642 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 224,322 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.38% of Iridium Communications worth $7,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $41.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.13.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Iridium Communications's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Iridium Communications

Here are the key news stories impacting Iridium Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its Q2 2026 earnings estimate to $0.21 per share from $0.19, indicating a modest improvement in the near-term outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: A commentary piece highlighted “2 reasons to like IRDM and 1 to stay skeptical,” reinforcing that the stock still has both bullish and cautious views around it. 2 reasons to like IRDM and 1 to stay skeptical
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research lowered FY2026 EPS to $0.90 from $0.99 and trimmed FY2027 EPS to $1.08 from $1.16, pointing to softer profit expectations over the next two years.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also cut several quarterly estimates, including Q3 2026, Q4 2026, Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, and Q1 2028, which may pressure valuation sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: FY2028 EPS was reduced to $1.52 from $1.68, suggesting analysts see less upside in Iridium’s longer-term earnings power.

About Iridium Communications

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.

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