Keith Larson Purchases 625 Shares of AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Director Keith Larson purchased 625 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.00 per share, for a total transaction of $50,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,200. The trade was a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

ASTS traded down $0.48 on Monday, hitting $71.47. 13,915,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,289,898. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.78 and a 200-day moving average of $58.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $26.23 billion, a PE ratio of -57.64 and a beta of 2.76. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.50 and a 12-month high of $102.79.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth $33,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.