Northern Trust Corp Sells 107,727 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

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 position 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 13F filing with the Securities & 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 about 1.59% of Iridium Communications worth $46,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 242.1% in the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 43,802 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter worth $72,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 645,636 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,639,000 after acquiring an additional 38,698 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 26.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,198,343 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,059,000 after buying an additional 462,501 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 0.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 155,020 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,491,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ IRDM traded up $0.28 on Monday, reaching $24.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,073,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,532. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $19.91 and a 1 year high of $35.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.78.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 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 firm had revenue of $216.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. 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.