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

11 Dec 2025, 10:40 by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat Gem

Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 2,917 call options on the company. This is an increase of 88% compared to the average volume of 1,549 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Niehaus acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $524,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 297,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,200,878.87. This represents a 11.22% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Fitzpatrick sold 20,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.00, for a total value of $375,102.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 231,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,158,612. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,967 shares of company stock valued at $557,406 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRDM. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Iridium Communications by 265.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,039,731 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,857 shares during the period. Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Iridium Communications by 226.3% in the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 2,012,077 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395,485 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Iridium Communications by 21.7% during the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,490,108 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $113,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,580 shares during the period. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Heights Capital Management Inc now owns 5,189,703 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $90,612,000 after purchasing an additional 961,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Iridium Communications by 124.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,581,142 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,607,000 after purchasing an additional 877,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on IRDM shares. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Iridium Communications from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Iridium Communications from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Iridium Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.67.

Read Our Latest Report on Iridium Communications

Iridium Communications Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ IRDM traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.64. 286,664 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,851,864. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.71 and its 200-day moving average is $22.84. Iridium Communications has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $34.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.61.

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 14.44%.The firm had revenue of $226.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $222.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Iridium Communications will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Iridium Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio is 53.10%.

About Iridium Communications

(Get Free Report)

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.