AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 5.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price was up 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $61.67 and last traded at $57.80. 30,212,988 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 18,693,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.01.

Key Stories Impacting AST SpaceMobile

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Negative Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile priced $1.0 billion of 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2034, sparking concerns about dilution and funding needs. AST SpaceMobile Announces Pricing of Private Offering of $1.0 Billion of Convertible Senior Notes Due 2034
• Negative Sentiment: The company also disclosed a delay in its commercial satellite service timeline, adding to worries that execution may take longer than expected. ASTS Trending After a Rough Week Marked by a $1 Billion Notes Sale, Service Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Broader weakness in space stocks, including selloff pressure tied to SpaceX-related headlines, has weighed on ASTS sentiment as well. AST SpaceMobile Stock Sinks as SpaceX Fallout Rattles Space Sector
• Neutral Sentiment: Some bullish commentary is offsetting the selloff, with Piper Sandler upgrading ASTS to strong-buy and other analysts arguing the market may be overreacting to the financing news. Zacks.com
• Neutral Sentiment: Supporters note AST SpaceMobile still has commitments from nearly 60 global carriers and more than $1.2 billion in signed agreements, which could support long-term revenue growth if execution improves. AST SpaceMobile: Why I Bought The Dip

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.34. The stock has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of -32.47 and a beta of 2.69.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The business had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.