Thomas Fitzpatrick Sells 15,046 Shares of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Stock

Key Points

• Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 Iridium shares for approximately $740,263, reducing his direct ownership by 25.81%. He also sold 209,233 shares the previous day for about $10.5 million.
• Iridium shares traded at $48.71, while the company’s latest quarterly earnings fell short of analyst expectations at $0.09 per share versus $0.28 expected; revenue increased 3.8% year over year to $225.24 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, equal to a 1.2% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM - Get Free Report) Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 15,046 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.20, for a total transaction of $740,263.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,260 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,128,392. This trade represents a 25.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Thomas Fitzpatrick also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 17th, Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 209,233 shares of Iridium Communications stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.22, for a total transaction of $10,507,681.26.

Iridium Communications Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.71. The stock had a trading volume of 818,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,215. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 55.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.88. Iridium Communications Inc has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 year high of $57.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.42.

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

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Iridium Communications's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position 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 valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,350 shares of the technology company's stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 19.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Iridium Communications by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,677 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Iridium Communications from $26.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

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.

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