AQR Capital Management LLC Has $27.30 Million Stock Holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

AQR Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 940,771 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 200,271 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.83% of Iridium Communications worth $27,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,162 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 15,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,060 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,731 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on IRDM. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut Iridium Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.33.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $25.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.91 and a 12-month high of $35.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.58% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $214.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company 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 was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

Iridium Communications Profile

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.