AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 1.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $23.47 and last traded at $23.46. 2,365,111 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 11,979,897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ASTS. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective 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 issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.40.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 5.80. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.89 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.52.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $0.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. On average, equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $614,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 52,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,258.44. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the 1st 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 owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.