Moore Capital Management LP Takes Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Moore Capital Management acquired 30,000 Iridium Communications shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $1.65 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.36% of the company.
• Iridium reported quarterly revenue of $225.24 million, up 3.8% year over year, but earnings per share of $0.09 missed analyst expectations of $0.28. Analysts expect $0.95 in full-year EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, or $0.60 annualized, yielding about 1.3%. Despite some recent price-target increases, analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $38.67 target, below the reported share price of $46.98.

Moore Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 30,000 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $176,533,000 after buying an additional 677,258 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $91,265,000 after acquiring an additional 61,430 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,642 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,044,000 after acquiring an additional 224,322 shares during the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,369,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,083,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.8%

Iridium Communications stock opened at $46.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. Iridium Communications Inc has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $48.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.17.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, William Blair cut Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total transaction of $740,263.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,128,392. The trade was a 25.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 85,454 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.28, for a total transaction of $4,296,627.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,179,814.76. The trade was a 23.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 375,919 shares of company stock worth $18,878,997. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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