Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 606,938 Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 606,938 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $17,613,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Iridium Communications at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $131,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. William Blair raised shares of Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BWS Financial cut their price target on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.83. The company had a trading volume of 353,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,608. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $27.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.72. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.91 and a 1-year high of $35.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The firm had revenue of $214.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is 58.95%.

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.