Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 291,196 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,711,039 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 291,196 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.50% of Iridium Communications worth $49,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 631,852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,336,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 248,602 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,264,000 after buying an additional 57,690 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 369.5% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 54,747 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 376.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth $17,613,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. William Blair upgraded Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BWS Financial reduced their target price on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $24.12 on Wednesday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.91 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.87 and a 200-day moving average of $28.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73.

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

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 52.83%.

About Iridium Communications

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.