AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 3.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) rose 3.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $24.26 and last traded at $23.96. Approximately 2,595,171 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 10,537,797 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.45 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.14. The company has a current ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $62,424.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at $16,476,699.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 393,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total value of $62,424.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at $16,476,699.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 56.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,325,000 after buying an additional 2,217,531 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $278,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 150.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 126,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 76,088 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 56,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $259,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.