Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $35.21 Million Stock Position in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,322,585 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 946,887 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 1.09% of Iridium Communications worth $35,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 11,480 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 30,459 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.1% in the second quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 17,925 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 109.7% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of Iridium Communications stock opened at $31.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.52 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.70 and its 200-day moving average is $27.61. Iridium Communications Inc. has a one year low of $24.14 and a one year high of $45.07.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.01 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on IRDM. BWS Financial restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Company 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.