AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price rose 1.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $90.95 and last traded at $88.10. Approximately 21,323,492 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 16,359,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTS has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $79.45.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.48 and a beta of 2.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $84.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,412,448,964.10. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,095,000 shares of company stock worth $275,597,100. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $31,000. 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.