Insider Selling: Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Sells 38,355 Shares of Stock

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM stock traded down $0.84 on Thursday, reaching $28.94. The stock had a trading volume of 989,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,363. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm's 50-day moving average is $28.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.19 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.14 and a 12 month high of $41.66.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.10. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 11.08% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business had revenue of $201.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. Iridium Communications's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Iridium Communications's payout ratio is presently 266.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $546,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 30,459 shares of the technology company's stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 346,118 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 427.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 72,626 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,900,000 after buying an additional 58,860 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 116.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 265,474 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,945,000 after buying an additional 142,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

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.

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