50,389 Shares in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has acquired a stake in Iridium Communications Inc, purchasing 50,389 shares valued at approximately $1.38 million.
• Several institutional investors, including SVB Wealth LLC and UMB Bank, have also increased their positions in Iridium Communications during the first quarter.
• Iridium Communications plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.14 dividend, representing an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 50,389 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC grew 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 worth $133,641,000 after buying an additional 2,383,962 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew 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 worth $106,361,000 after buying an additional 1,064,093 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew 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 worth $106,210,000 after buying an additional 1,061,465 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew 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 worth $60,059,000 after buying an additional 462,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,945,852 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,162,000 after purchasing an additional 234,813 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM traded down $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.79. 4,412,204 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,964,681. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.53. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. 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 12-month low of $17.08 and a 12-month high of $35.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.73 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 13.20%.Iridium Communications's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial lowered Iridium Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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, BWS Financial lowered Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $16.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.67.

Iridium Communications Company 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.