Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.29 Million Position in Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 46,500 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 48,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 11,985 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1,243.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 40,479 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 37,465 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 16.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 232,231 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,345,000 after purchasing an additional 33,191 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 16.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 539,566 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after buying an additional 75,060 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair downgraded Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $53.75 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.54 and a 200 day moving average of $31.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.29, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.87.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.61%.

Insider Transactions at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total value of $67,419.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,793. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.