Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,019 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 10,115 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Iridium Communications worth $6,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 129.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 529.6% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,512 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IRDM shares. BWS Financial reduced their price objective on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.25.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,403,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,185,901. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.99. Iridium Communications Inc has a twelve month low of $19.91 and a twelve month high of $35.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.49 and a 200-day moving average of $27.98.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $214.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.78 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 19.41%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.83%.

About Iridium Communications

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.