Bamco Inc. NY Sells 7,694,981 Shares of Iridium Communications Inc $IRDM

Key Points

• Bamco Inc. NY sold 7,694,981 shares of Iridium, reducing its stake by 91.8% to 682,926 shares (about 0.65% of the company) valued at $11.924 million.
• Analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating with a $25.40 price target (four Buy, two Hold, one Sell); notable revisions include Weiss moving to Hold and Morgan Stanley raising its target to $26 (equal weight).
• Iridium beat EPS estimates ($0.24 vs. $0.23) but missed revenue ($212.94M vs. $219.14M), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 (annualized $0.60, ~2.4% yield), and has a market cap of $2.61B with a 52-week range of $15.65–$33.34.

Bamco Inc. NY lessened its stake in shares of Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Free Report) by 91.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 682,926 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 7,694,981 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.65% of Iridium Communications worth $11,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Iridium Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 36.2% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 147.0% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,485 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.40.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 0.3%

IRDM opened at $24.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.82. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $33.34. The company's 50 day moving average price is $21.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.60.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $212.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.14 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.60%.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company's unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium's core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.

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