Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.43 Million in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,800 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,432,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IRDM. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Iridium Communications by 83.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,006 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 78.7% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 990 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.40. 1,571,632 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,126,681. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.48 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $27.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.80. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $68.34.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The technology company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $203.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 247.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. William Blair cut shares of Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. BWS Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.80.

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.