AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 13.1% – Should You Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price shot up 13.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $127.10 and last traded at $119.70. 47,038,517 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 178% from the average session volume of 16,939,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ASTS shares. New Street Research assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $79.45.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.80. 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 market capitalization of $46.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.25 and a beta of 2.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 value of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,180. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $276,048,350 in the last 90 days. 20.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 64,989 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during 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 worth $7,405,000 after purchasing an additional 49,811 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $168,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.