AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 6.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $104.80 and last traded at $101.25. 16,798,423 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 17,498,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASTS shares. B. Riley downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays downgraded AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a PE ratio of -81.65 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.75.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.10) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 387,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,699,160. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.