AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 6.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 6.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $26.06 and last traded at $25.75. 2,613,859 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 10,513,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ASTS. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 boosted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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.

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 company has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of -26.95 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.75.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. Equities 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 393,232 shares in the company, valued at $10,157,182.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Adriana Cisneros bought 4,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 774,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,391,999.04. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524. 56.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,531 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth about $278,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 150.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 126,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 76,088 shares in the last quarter. Key Colony Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,556,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 41.5% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 56,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 16,568 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.