Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Iridium Communications Inc by 11.5%, holding approximately 0.36% of the company's stock valued at about $10.66 million.
• Iridium recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, enhancing its annualized dividend yield from 2.4% on a previous quarterly dividend of $0.14.
• The company's stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with Oppenheimer giving it an "outperform" rating and a target price of $34.00, while Morgan Stanley lowered its target from $40.00 to $37.00.

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 390,325 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 50,858 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.36% of Iridium Communications worth $10,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,590 shares of the technology company's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 109.1% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 23,000 shares of the technology company's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 64.8% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 176,336 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,818,000 after buying an additional 69,336 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 120.5% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 15,038 shares of the technology company's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $24.62. 1,570,388 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,404,253. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.78. 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 Inc has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $27.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.10.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 20.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on IRDM. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.33.

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.