Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 196.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,164 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,206 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 15,330 shares of the technology company's stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,060 shares of the technology company's stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,731 shares of the technology company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BWS Financial reduced their target price on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.25.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.22. 742,698 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,158,923. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.05. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $214.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.78 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 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.