AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 9.1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 9.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $73.20 and last traded at $71.5670. 21,954,581 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 18,648,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 9.1%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.49 and its 200-day moving average is $89.25. The firm has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.21 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were 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 $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292 over the last three months. 20.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.