Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) Short Interest Up 6.3% in October

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,050,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the October 15th total of 6,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.5 days. Approximately 7.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Iridium Communications Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ IRDM opened at $28.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41 and a beta of 0.65. Iridium Communications has a 1 year low of $24.14 and a 1 year high of $41.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.45 and its 200 day moving average is $28.29.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The technology company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $212.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.68 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 14.09%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Iridium Communications will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 19th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 14.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suzanne E. Mcbride sold 4,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.48, for a total value of $130,301.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 182,797 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,388,855.56. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Niehaus sold 38,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.39, for a total value of $1,127,253.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 254,824 shares in the company, valued at $7,489,277.36. The trade was a 13.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iridium Communications

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 2.9% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,269,883 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $130,018,000 after acquiring an additional 36,851 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 3,480,051 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $92,639,000 after acquiring an additional 152,232 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,508,546 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,385,000 after acquiring an additional 33,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Iridium Communications by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,475,472 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $65,897,000 after acquiring an additional 385,872 shares in the last quarter. 84.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRDM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Iridium Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BWS Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.