AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 2.6% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 2.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $61.63 and last traded at $61.44. Approximately 6,530,328 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 17,455,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $93.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.71 and a beta of 2.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 13.05 and a quick ratio of 12.90.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.The firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 64,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after acquiring an additional 49,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $168,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.