AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 8% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares rose 8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $61.88 and last traded at $61.44. Approximately 11,865,798 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 11,983,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, November 24th. William Blair began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.96 and its 200-day moving average is $52.17. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a PE ratio of -49.55 and a beta of 2.76.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.AST SpaceMobile’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.10) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 387,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,699,160. The trade was a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 750 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.79 per share, for a total transaction of $38,092.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 784,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,823,270.83. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth $28,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.