Millennium Management LLC Buys 653,201 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 82.2% during Q1, now holding 1,447,889 shares worth approximately $39.6 million.
• Iridium Communications recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.1% and an increase from the previous dividend of $0.14.
• Several other large investors also boosted their stakes in the company, with ARK Investment Management now owning 4,891,677 shares, a 95.1% increase during the same period.

Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 82.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,447,889 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 653,201 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 1.34% of Iridium Communications worth $39,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Iridium Communications by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 16,785 shares of the technology company's stock worth $487,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 196.3% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 56,164 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 37,206 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 590,023 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,122,000 after buying an additional 10,226 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth $438,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,867 shares of the technology company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 2,319 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of IRDM stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $18.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 690,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,279. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1-year low of $17.08 and a 1-year high of $35.85. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.53.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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 payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BWS Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.67.

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.