Insider Selling: Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Sells 209,233 Shares of Stock

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 209,233 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total value of $10,507,681.26. Following the sale, the director directly owned 58,306 shares in the company, valued at $2,928,127.32. This trade represents a 78.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Thomas Fitzpatrick also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 shares of Iridium Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total value of $740,263.20.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.71. 818,984 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,320,215. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.42. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $57.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $225.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IRDM. BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, April 27th. William Blair lowered shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. New Street Research raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three analysts have 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 3.1% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,677 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 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.