Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 352,249 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 76,100 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $9,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 651.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002,232 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 226.3% during the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395,485 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,607,000 after acquiring an additional 877,760 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,759,000 after acquiring an additional 725,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.6%

IRDM stock opened at $47.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) 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). The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IRDM. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

About Iridium Communications

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.