AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 15% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 15% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $76.44 and last traded at $75.84. 19,669,335 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 62% from the average session volume of 12,141,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Zacks Research lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday. UBS Group downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.16 and a beta of 2.76. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.73.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.10) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 2,140 shares of company stock worth $137,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,259 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,411,000 after buying an additional 231,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 803,240 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently 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.