Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP cut its Iridium Communications stake by 17.8% in the first quarter, selling 76,100 shares and retaining 352,249 shares worth approximately $9.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.36% of IRDM.
• Iridium reported quarterly revenue of $225.24 million, ahead of expectations, but earnings of $0.09 per share missed the $0.28 consensus estimate. Revenue increased 3.8% year over year, and analysts expect full-year EPS of $0.95.
• IRDM opened at $47.34, while analyst sentiment remains mixed with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $38.67. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing a 1.3% yield.

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,249 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 76,100 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.33% of Iridium Communications worth $9,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock worth $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company's stock worth $91,265,000 after buying an additional 61,430 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company's stock worth $82,759,000 after buying an additional 725,856 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,074,000 after buying an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,323,170 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,377,000 after buying an additional 408,903 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $47.34 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $57.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.80, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.84.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on IRDM shares. William Blair downgraded Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BWS Financial restated a "sell" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IRDM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.