AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 8.8% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile's stock price rose by 8.8%, reaching $51.22 during trading on Monday, although the volume was significantly lower than average.
• Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" to a "hold" rating, while market consensus indicates a "Moderate Buy" rating with a price target of $48.41.
• During the most recent quarter, AST SpaceMobile reported a loss of ($0.41) EPS, missing estimates, with revenue of only $1.16 million against expectations of $6.37 million.

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) traded up 8.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $51.24 and last traded at $51.22. 4,658,805 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 11,792,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.41.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 0.0%

The firm has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.89 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.87 and a 200-day moving average of $34.95.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $717,950. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total value of $1,782,500.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 149,250 shares of company stock worth $5,721,250 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 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.