Insider Selling: Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Sells 12,500 Shares of Stock

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 241,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,876,585.90. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.14 and a fifty-two week high of $38.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.47 and a 200-day moving average of $28.50.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The company had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.68 million. As a group, analysts predict that Iridium Communications Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 248,602 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,264,000 after purchasing an additional 57,690 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 143,049 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,296,000 after buying an additional 21,857 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Iridium Communications by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 856,901 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,093,000 after buying an additional 137,924 shares during the period. Finally, Main Management ETF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth about $922,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

About Iridium Communications

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.