AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 15% – Should You Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 15% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $76.44 and last traded at $75.84. 19,669,335 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 12,141,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays downgraded 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 report on Friday, October 17th. William Blair began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 target price for the company 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 assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 15.0%

The stock has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.16 and a beta of 2.76. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.00 and its 200-day moving average is $55.73.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 2,140 shares of company stock valued at $137,236 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares during the period. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,796,000 after buying an additional 33,259 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,411,000 after buying an additional 231,549 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,182,000 after buying an additional 803,240 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.