Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.04, but opened at $88.30. Iron Mountain shares last traded at $84.46, with a volume of 205,382 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Iron Mountain from $125.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Iron Mountain from $130.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Iron Mountain from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Iron Mountain from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

Iron Mountain Stock Up 1.5 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $93.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 1.04.

Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.70). Iron Mountain had a negative return on equity of 401.83% and a net margin of 2.95%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Iron Mountain Incorporated will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Iron Mountain Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.785 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a boost from Iron Mountain’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Iron Mountain’s payout ratio is currently 514.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William L. Meaney sold 172,552 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.33, for a total transaction of $15,759,174.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 237,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,681,924.66. This trade represents a 42.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Daniel Borges sold 6,433 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.84, for a total value of $597,239.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,737.92. This trade represents a 95.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 249,848 shares of company stock worth $23,418,519. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iron Mountain

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRM. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Iron Mountain by 91.5% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 14,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 7,137 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Iron Mountain by 254.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 14,737 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iron Mountain by 151.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 5,511 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Iron Mountain in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,122,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iron Mountain in the fourth quarter worth $102,000. Institutional investors own 80.13% of the company’s stock.

Iron Mountain Company Profile

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is a global leader in information management services. Founded in 1951 and trusted by more than 240,000 customers worldwide, Iron Mountain serves to protect and elevate the power of our customers’ work. Through a range of offerings including digital transformation, data centers, secure records storage, information management, asset lifecycle management, secure destruction and art storage and logistics, Iron Mountain helps businesses bring light to their dark data, enabling customers to unlock value and intelligence from their stored digital and physical assets at speed and with security, while helping them meet their environmental goals.