AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.26, but opened at $26.00. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $26.44, with a volume of 2,730,112 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.31 and a beta of 1.64. The company's 50 day moving average is $25.70 and its 200-day moving average is $18.08.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.32 per share, with a total value of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,157,182.56. 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 valued at $3,220,524 in the last ninety days. 41.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 209.9% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,450,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046,667 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,217,531 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 228.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,131,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,594,000 after buying an additional 787,566 shares in the last quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $2,900,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 6.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 846,072 shares of the company's stock worth $22,125,000 after buying an additional 47,600 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is 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.