Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Up 3.3% - Time to Buy?

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) shot up 3.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $29.93 and last traded at $29.94. 117,460 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 1,072,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IRDM. StockNews.com lowered shares of Iridium Communications from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Iridium Communications from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 6.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The business's 50-day moving average is $29.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.45.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.16. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 13.58%. The business had revenue of $212.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.78 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.89 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Insider Activity at Iridium Communications

In other Iridium Communications news, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total transaction of $356,625.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 241,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,876,585.90. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. State Street Corp grew its position in Iridium Communications by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,269,883 shares of the technology company's stock worth $130,018,000 after acquiring an additional 36,851 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,829,052 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $82,099,000 after purchasing an additional 320,506 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,827,580 shares of the technology company's stock worth $82,028,000 after purchasing an additional 329,915 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,507,715 shares of the technology company's stock worth $72,774,000 after purchasing an additional 134,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 44.7% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,213,512 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $64,125,000 after buying an additional 683,777 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

Iridium Communications Inc provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services.