StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on IRDM. Raymond James lifted their price target on Iridium Communications from $60.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. BWS Financial boosted their target price on Iridium Communications from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $63.75.

Iridium Communications Stock Performance

Shares of IRDM traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $59.26. 2,153,817 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 754,541. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 846.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 2.16. Iridium Communications has a 12 month low of $32.88 and a 12 month high of $65.41.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The technology company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $193.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.52 million. Iridium Communications had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 0.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Iridium Communications will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Iridium Communications news, CEO Matthew J. Desch sold 21,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.24, for a total value of $1,180,750.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 636,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,539,001.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Iridium Communications news, CEO Matthew J. Desch sold 21,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.24, for a total value of $1,180,750.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 636,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,539,001.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Desch sold 22,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.30, for a total value of $1,218,111.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 604,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,813,435.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 287,789 shares of company stock valued at $17,339,473 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $324,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $812,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $592,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Iridium Communications by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 296,908 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,174,000 after purchasing an additional 51,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Iridium Communications by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,836 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.82% of the company’s stock.

About Iridium Communications

(Get Rating)

Iridium Communications, Inc engages in the provision of global satellite communications services and products. Its products include personal communicators, messengers, and trackers, satellite phones, push-to-talk-devices, broadband, midband, and external terminals, docking stations, apps, and accessories.