AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 7.1% Following Insider Buying Activity

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares rose 7.1% on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $55.49 and last traded at $55.00. Approximately 9,569,011 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 12,087,382 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.37.

Specifically, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.79 per share, for a total transaction of $38,092.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 784,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,823,270.83. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASTS. UBS Group lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of -44.35 and a beta of 2.45. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $66.46 and its 200-day moving average is $50.74.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.10) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,754,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 295,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,000 after buying an additional 91,352 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.