Scientech Research LLC Takes $711,000 Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC has made a new investment in Iridium Communications Inc, acquiring 26,016 shares valued at approximately $711,000.
• Several institutional investors, including ARK Investment Management and Millennium Management LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Iridium Communications during the first quarter.
• Iridium Communications has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.14 to $0.15 per share, reflecting a positive change in its annualized dividend yield to 2.8%.

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 26,016 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $711,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 129.8% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,379 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 37.2% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,757 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth $72,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on IRDM. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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 cut their target price 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. BWS Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $25.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.67.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.79. The stock had a trading volume of 4,412,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,404. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.75. 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 data on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $216.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

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.