Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Stake Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to more than 10.1 million shares worth about $176.5 million. The firm now owns roughly 9.7% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with Iridium carrying an overall Hold rating and a consensus price target of $26. Recent calls included a Barclays upgrade to Overweight with a $36 target, while other firms kept sell or neutral views.
• Iridium’s latest quarter showed $0.20 EPS, missing estimates of $0.27, even as revenue came in slightly above expectations at $219.1 million. The company also reported a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, while analysts cut several forward earnings estimates.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.70% of Iridium Communications worth $176,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM opened at $41.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.13. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $44.36.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The business's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total transaction of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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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