Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Stock Holdings Lessened by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Iridium Communications by 5.9%, selling 107,727 shares, which now puts its ownership at about 1.59% of the company valued at approximately $46.98 million.
• A variety of institutional investors have shown activity in Iridium Communications, with some like SBI Securities increasing their stake by 37.2% in the first quarter.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.14 to $0.15, representing a current dividend yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,719,684 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 107,727 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.59% of Iridium Communications worth $46,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 95.1% during the first quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,891,677 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $133,641,000 after buying an additional 2,383,962 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,893,145 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $106,361,000 after buying an additional 1,064,093 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.5% during the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 3,889,045 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $106,210,000 after buying an additional 1,061,465 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 26.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,198,343 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,059,000 after buying an additional 462,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 2,088,053 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,595,000 after buying an additional 567,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $39.00 price target (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,383,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,402,216. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.78. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $19.91 and a 52 week high of $35.85. The business's 50-day moving average is $27.45 and its 200 day moving average is $27.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51.

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

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

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.