South Dakota Investment Council Makes New $1.15 Million Investment in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• South Dakota Investment Council opened a new position in Iridium Communications, purchasing 41,500 shares valued at approximately $1.15 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.36% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $38.67, despite several firms raising their targets and one assigning an “outperform” rating.
• Iridium reported quarterly revenue of $225.24 million, exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $0.09 missed expectations of $0.28. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, yielding about 1.3% annually.

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 41,500 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company's stock worth $176,533,000 after acquiring an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,759,000 after purchasing an additional 725,856 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $53,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,323,170 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,377,000 after purchasing an additional 408,903 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IRDM. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock opened at $47.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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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