Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 946,887 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM)

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

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,280 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after acquiring an additional 346,118 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Iridium Communications by 429.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 334,396 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $8,902,000 after acquiring an additional 271,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $31.61 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $45.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 150.52 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.61.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is currently 266.67%.

Iridium Communications declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 raised their price objective on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

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.