Voya Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc by 47.3%, owning 633,796 shares valued at approximately $17.3 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors are also expanding their positions, with Millennium Management LLC increasing its holdings by 82.2% and now owning about 1.4 million shares, valued at around $39.6 million.
• Iridium Communications announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, an increase from the previous $0.14, reflecting a healthy dividend yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 56.57%.

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 47.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 633,796 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 203,523 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.59% of Iridium Communications worth $17,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IRDM. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth about $247,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications by 82.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,447,889 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,556,000 after buying an additional 653,201 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in Iridium Communications by 25.0% during the first quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 879,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $24,025,000 after buying an additional 175,992 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 14.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 85.8% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,627 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 12,297 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRDM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $39.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, September 11th. BWS Financial lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $16.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.67.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM opened at $18.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $25.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.44. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $17.08 and a 52 week high of $35.85.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $216.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.73 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 13.20%.Iridium Communications's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Iridium Communications's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 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.

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