Insider Selling: Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) CAO Sells $680,521.23 in Stock

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 13,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.51, for a total value of $680,521.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 35,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,804,772.81. The trade was a 27.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $48.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 55.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.16 and its 200 day moving average is $38.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend 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

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. New Street Research raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. 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. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, William Blair cut Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Iridium Communications

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.