Anchor Capital Management Company LLC Acquires 71,229 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Anchor Capital Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 695,170 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,229 shares during the quarter. Iridium Communications accounts for approximately 19.6% of Anchor Capital Management Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Anchor Capital Management Company LLC’s holdings in Iridium Communications were worth $18,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 6.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $279,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter worth $2,592,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 768,347 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,453,000 after buying an additional 23,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IRDM shares. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:IRDM opened at $29.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.14 and a 12-month high of $47.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.43 and a beta of 0.64.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $201.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 11.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 266.67%.

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.