AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 14.3% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was up 14.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $120.80 and last traded at $115.77. Approximately 33,332,203 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 75% from the average daily volume of 19,008,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.25.

Key AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Missile-defense prime contract — Being awarded a prime position on the MDA’s SHIELD IDIQ validates ASTS’s dual?use LEO capabilities and makes the company eligible to bid on future task orders, boosting expectations for government revenue and defense market expansion. AST SpaceMobile Awarded Prime Contract Position on U.S.-Missile-Defense-Agency SHIELD Program
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage of the Pentagon win — Multiple outlets highlight the Golden Dome/SHIELD link and note the contract as a material validation of AST’s government pipeline, which traders view as a fresh revenue/credibility catalyst. Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring—Is This the Next Leg Up?
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/technical catalysts — Continued BlueBird program progress (BlueBird?6 success and BlueBird?7 integration) remains a near?term growth story that supports longer?term commercial and defense opportunity expansion. Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring—Is This the Next Leg Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum/technical flow — Traders flagged a “Power Inflow” signal and the stock set fresh highs, amplifying buying interest that can accelerate moves but also raise short?term volatility. AST SpaceMobile Shares On A Tear Following Yesterday’s Key Trading Signal
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — B. Riley recently cut ASTS to Neutral, tempering near?term analyst enthusiasm and signaling caution among some institutional investors. AST SpaceMobile Wins Missile Defense Contract Days After Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/investor scrutiny and valuation risk — A Pomerantz investor investigation and bearish write?ups (Seeking Alpha/Sohu) plus elevated short interest and analyst price?target dispersion increase downside risk and the chance of volatile pullbacks. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. – ASTS

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 14.3%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.49 billion, a PE ratio of -93.36 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.10) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Keith R. Larson bought 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.00 per share, for a total transaction of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,200. This trade represents a 44.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

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

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.