AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $120.93 and last traded at $109.6140, with a volume of 5447670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.59 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a current ratio of 9.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.93 and its 200 day moving average is $64.35.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 122,486 shares in the company, valued at $9,034,567.36. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,668,000 after buying an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,754,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,382,000 after acquiring an additional 434,615 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 610.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 475,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,222,000 after acquiring an additional 408,595 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.