Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 217,088 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 54,682.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,485 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 217,088 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $6,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the first quarter worth about $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the first quarter worth about $1,431,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the first quarter valued at about $244,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 508,290 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $14,100,000 after acquiring an additional 10,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 2,810.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 39,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 38,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $46.68 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.96.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.