AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 9.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) rose 9.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $105.20 and last traded at $101.79. Approximately 15,806,056 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 17,528,842 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ASTS shares. Scotiabank downgraded 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 9.1%

The company has a market cap of $37.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.09 and a beta of 2.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.60. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.10) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,034,567.36. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,642 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,634,000 after buying an additional 64,989 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,405,000 after buying an additional 49,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at about $168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.