Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM)

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 33,121 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 948% compared to the average volume of 3,161 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,480,684. The trade was a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 3.1% during the second 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. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Iridium Communications by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,350 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,677 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 107.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Iridium Communications by 5.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,971 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. 84.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Iridium Communications Trading Up 1.7%

IRDM stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,626,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,401,813. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.74. Iridium Communications has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $53.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.70.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 22.76% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Iridium Communications will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on IRDM. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Iridium Communications from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Iridium Communications in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

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.