Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management cut its Iridium Communications stake by 4.9% in Q4, selling 41,644 shares and leaving it with 808,392 shares valued at about $14.05 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 84.36% of Iridium shares held by institutional investors and hedge funds, while several firms including Millennium Management and Man Group sharply increased their positions.
• Iridium’s latest quarterly results were mixed: EPS came in at $0.20, below the $0.27 consensus, though revenue of $219.06 million slightly topped expectations and was up 2% year over year.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 808,392 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 41,644 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.77% of Iridium Communications worth $14,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Man Group plc grew its position in Iridium Communications by 226.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $35,131,000 after buying an additional 1,395,485 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $113,317,000 after buying an additional 1,156,580 shares in the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company's stock worth $90,612,000 after acquiring an additional 961,440 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,607,000 after acquiring an additional 877,760 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IRDM. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.0%

IRDM opened at $51.78 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $52.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.22. The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a PE ratio of 52.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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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