AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) were up 6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $69.99 and last traded at $69.19. Approximately 8,967,168 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 12,161,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $42.90 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays lowered AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.81 billion, a PE ratio of -36.61 and a beta of 2.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.47 and a 200 day moving average of $47.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. Equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $203,375,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after buying an additional 2,351,539 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% during 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. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $14,750,000. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.