AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 12.4% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares shot up 12.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $120.09 and last traded at $116.37. 19,373,972 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 19,511,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.82. The company has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.59 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.10) EPS. AST SpaceMobile’s revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 22.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 3.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.