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 cut its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 129.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth about $47,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IRDM. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.89. 2,073,476 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,523,532. Iridium Communications Inc has a one year low of $19.91 and a one year high of $35.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $27.54 and its 200-day moving average is $27.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

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

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.