AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 1.5% - Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $59.78 and last traded at $59.78. 1,755,987 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 12,147,435 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASTS. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.40 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.34.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 7.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 10.62 and a quick ratio of 10.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.61 billion, a PE ratio of -27.97 and a beta of 2.27.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,033.22% and a negative return on equity of 23.56%. The company had revenue of $0.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. As a group, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $1,350,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 161.3% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 78,815 shares of the company's stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 48,653 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,676 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $709,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company's stock worth $316,233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955,941 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

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.