Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) EVP Timothy James Last Sells 5,769 Shares

Key Points

• Insider sale: EVP Timothy James Last sold 5,769 Iridium shares at an average price of $46.35, worth approximately $267,393. He retained 84,130 shares, representing a 6.42% reduction in his ownership.
• Mixed financial performance: Iridium reported quarterly revenue of $225.24 million, up 3.8% year over year and above estimates, but earnings per share of $0.09 fell short of the $0.28 consensus.
• Market and analyst view: Shares traded near $47.28, while analysts had an average “Hold” rating and a $41.20 price target. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equivalent to a 1.3% yield.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) EVP Timothy Last sold 5,769 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.35, for a total value of $267,393.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 84,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,899,425.50. This trade represents a 6.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Timothy James Last also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 17th, Timothy Last sold 19,521 shares of Iridium Communications stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.34, for a total value of $982,687.14.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

NASDAQ IRDM traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $47.28. The company had a trading volume of 913,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,158,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.73, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.87. Iridium Communications Inc has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $57.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.05.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). Iridium Communications had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $225.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $220.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Iridium Communications Inc will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. New Street Research raised Iridium Communications from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, William Blair lowered Iridium Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Iridium Communications during the second quarter valued at approximately $737,587,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,751,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,270,799 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $124,553,000 after purchasing an additional 766,171 shares in the last quarter. Sculptor Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,725,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,842,000. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company's stock.

About Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Inc provides global satellite-based voice and data communications services. Its network is designed to support connectivity across land, oceans, airways and polar regions, serving customers in areas where terrestrial communications infrastructure is limited or unavailable.

The company offers satellite phones, broadband and narrowband data services, push-to-talk communications, and Internet of Things connectivity. Its product portfolio includes Iridium Certus broadband services, Iridium GO! satellite Wi-Fi products, satellite phones, specialized IoT services and solutions for asset tracking, monitoring and machine-to-machine communications.

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