AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 12.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) rose 12.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $120.09 and last traded at $116.37. Approximately 19,373,972 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 19,511,795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 12.4%

The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.85 and a beta of 2.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.83 and a 200-day moving average of $63.99.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.10) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,034,567.36. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,220. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $90,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth about $21,754,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,382,000 after purchasing an additional 434,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 610.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 475,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,222,000 after purchasing an additional 408,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.