Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock Price

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $48.00 to $60.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the technology company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. New Street Research assumed coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 6.3%

Iridium Communications stock traded up $3.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.74. 680,858 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,316,207. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.27, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.89. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $53.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.51.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted 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 net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 22.76%. The firm had revenue of $219.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,764 shares in the company, valued at $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 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.