Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $19.62, but opened at $21.00. Iridium Communications shares last traded at $20.82, with a volume of 1,717,261 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down from $37.00) on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, BWS Financial restated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Iridium Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.50.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.44%.The business had revenue of $226.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $222.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Iridium Communications’s payout ratio is presently 53.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Desch bought 20,000 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.33 per share, with a total value of $346,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,127,019 shares in the company, valued at $19,531,239.27. This represents a 1.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $375,102.00. Following the sale, the director owned 231,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,158,612. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IRDM. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 0.7% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 66,921 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 36.2% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,053 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 5.9% during the second quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 15,460 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 184.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,506 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.