AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 6% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price was up 6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $69.99 and last traded at $69.19. Approximately 8,967,168 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 12,161,710 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ASTS. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $42.90 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research cut AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. William Blair began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.61 and a beta of 2.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.88 and a 200-day moving average of $48.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%.The business had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $705,398,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after buying an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,375,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,796,000 after acquiring an additional 33,259 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,182,000 after acquiring an additional 803,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.