AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 11.9%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.85 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

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

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,034,567.36. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $560,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 387,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,699,160. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after buying an additional 102,217 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at about $21,754,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 99,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after acquiring an additional 21,739 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 9,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.