Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 606,938 Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 606,938 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $17,613,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Iridium Communications as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 buying an additional 10,195 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 57,690 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Iridium Communications by 369.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,562 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 54,747 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 376.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Iridium Communications in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,675,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,325. Iridium Communications Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.91 and a twelve month high of $35.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $27.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is 58.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on IRDM. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. William Blair upgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Finally, BWS Financial reduced their price objective on Iridium Communications from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.33.

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.