Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.75.

A number of analysts have issued reports on IRDM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. BWS Financial reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 0.3 %

Iridium Communications stock opened at $28.42 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.23 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.70. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $37.13.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iridium Communications

In other news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 12,500 shares of Iridium Communications stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.53, for a total value of $356,625.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 241,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,876,585.90. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,977 shares of company stock valued at $488,593 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iridium Communications

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IRDM. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Iridium Communications by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,014 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 10,509 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Iridium Communications in the second quarter valued at $435,000. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in Iridium Communications during the second quarter valued at about $2,592,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Iridium Communications during the second quarter worth about $279,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Iridium Communications in the 2nd quarter worth about $218,000. 84.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Iridium Communications

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.