AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 5.5% - Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares shot up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $48.94 and last traded at $46.78. 11,371,779 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 12,402,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.73.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.49 and a beta of 2.02. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $27.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.58. The company has a current ratio of 10.62, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. As a group, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,789,107.28. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 216,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,573,000 after buying an additional 4,168 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 80,305 shares of the company's stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 21,585 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 42,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $755,000. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.

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