Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $44.98 and last traded at $45.3070, with a volume of 1332852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on IRDM. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.80.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 4.4%

The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 45.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.51.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is 60.61%.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 2,043 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total value of $67,419.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 45,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,793. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 265.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,857 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Iridium Communications by 651.1% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 2,309,750 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002,232 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,485 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 21.7% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Iridium Communications by 22.7% in the third quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

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.