AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 3.2% – Time to Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares rose 3.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $90.35 and last traded at $89.11. Approximately 8,103,388 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 15,252,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $63.77.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27. The stock has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a PE ratio of -67.51 and a beta of 2.78.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.02 per share, for a total transaction of $50,064.30. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 1,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,327.80. The trade was a 105.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 30.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares in the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the 4th 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% during 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,011,000 after buying an additional 350,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.