Insider Selling: Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Sells $1,127,253.45 in Stock

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total transaction of $1,127,253.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 254,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,489,277.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 0.3 %

IRDM stock opened at $29.03 on Friday. Iridium Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.14 and a 52-week high of $41.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.12.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 1.93%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.58%.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has approved a share 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 typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Iridium Communications by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,090,326 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $316,283,000 after acquiring an additional 336,989 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $92,639,000 after buying an additional 152,232 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 18.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,897,000 after buying an additional 385,872 shares during the last quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 19.9% in the first quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,089,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 346,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 6,491.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,598,532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574,280 shares during the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IRDM shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.