Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 86.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,030 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 106,269 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BWS Financial lowered their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. William Blair upgraded Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.25.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Iridium Communications stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,209,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,138,012. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.91 and a 1-year high of $35.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The business had revenue of $214.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.78 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

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.