AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 6.6% on Insider Buying Activity

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price shot up 6.6% during trading on Thursday following insider buying activity. The company traded as high as $67.68 and last traded at $65.93. 12,903,671 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 12,112,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.86.

Specifically, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.02 per share, with a total value of $50,064.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,327.80. This trade represents a 105.93% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ASTS. Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays downgraded 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a PE ratio of -53.17 and a beta of 2.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.66.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released 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 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%. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.10) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 102,217 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,750,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter worth about $21,754,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after buying an additional 9,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% in the first quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 295,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,000 after acquiring an additional 91,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.