Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Insider Sells $1,671,217.20 in Stock

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) insider Kathleen Morgan sold 33,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $1,671,217.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 124,871 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,254.85. This trade represents a 21.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

IRDM stock opened at $48.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $57.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 55.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.32 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 10.55%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,157,227 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,533,000 after buying an additional 677,258 shares during the last quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,251,133 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,265,000 after acquiring an additional 61,430 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 396,642 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after acquiring an additional 224,322 shares during the last quarter. Maxi Investments CY Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,369,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,083,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, April 24th. 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, William Blair cut shares of Iridium Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

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.