AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 21.4% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile shares jumped 21.4% in midday trading, reaching as high as $86.95 on heavy volume that was well above average. The move came despite the stock still trading near its recent 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: several firms trimmed price targets or downgraded the stock, and the current consensus rating is “Reduce” with a target price of $85.09. Analysts are split overall, with more Holds and Sells than Buys.
• The company continues to post large losses and weak profitability, missing quarterly EPS and revenue estimates in its latest report. Insider selling has also been notable, including recent sales by the CFO and CTO, even as institutional investors hold a large stake in the company.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares were up 21.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $86.95 and last traded at $86.77. Approximately 32,977,994 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 76% from the average daily volume of 18,774,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.23. The firm has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.75 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. AST SpaceMobile's revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company's stock worth $338,569,000 after buying an additional 1,425,199 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company's stock worth $328,749,000 after buying an additional 402,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,011,000 after buying an additional 350,690 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.

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