Groupe la Francaise Buys Shares of 20,438 Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 20,438 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $567,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $176,533,000 after purchasing an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc grew its position in Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $91,265,000 after purchasing an additional 61,430 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,761,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $82,759,000 after purchasing an additional 725,856 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,323,170 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,377,000 after buying an additional 408,903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Trading Down 0.6%

Iridium Communications stock opened at $47.34 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $57.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 53.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 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.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.