AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 3.7% – Should You Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were up 3.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $59.50 and last traded at $58.29. Approximately 8,278,161 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 18,452,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ASTS. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 3.7%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.56. The firm has a market cap of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.75 and a beta of 2.69. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. Equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492. Corporate insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $397,413,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. 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.