AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 6.3% - Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 6.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.13 and last traded at $39.23. Approximately 14,275,388 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 12,337,056 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ASTS shares. B. Riley lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Roth Capital started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.73.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 9.2%

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.08. The company has a market cap of $13.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.77 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a current ratio of 5.80.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 545,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,450,461.75. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.