Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 4,875 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 144% compared to the average volume of 1,999 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Desch acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.33 per share, for a total transaction of $346,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,127,019 shares in the company, valued at $19,531,239.27. The trade was a 1.81% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total transaction of $375,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 231,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,158,612. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 184.7% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on IRDM. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $37.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.50.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 6.1%

NASDAQ:IRDM traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.83. 1,582,118 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,877,827. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $34.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $226.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $222.13 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 24.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 53.10%.

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.