AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 6.3% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded up 6.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $104.80 and last traded at $101.25. 16,798,423 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 17,498,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASTS. Barclays downgraded 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 shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two 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, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.3%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.75. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a PE ratio of -81.65 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.10) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,220. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth $90,129,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at $21,754,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,382,000 after purchasing an additional 434,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 610.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 475,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,222,000 after purchasing an additional 408,595 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.