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

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $60.28 and last traded at $57.96. Approximately 4,353,567 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 12,933,606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of -27.30 and a beta of 2.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.83 and a 200-day moving average of $30.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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 sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. Company insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

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