AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 21.4% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded up 21.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $86.95 and last traded at $86.77. 32,977,994 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 76% from the average session volume of 18,774,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a PE ratio of -48.75 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.23. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The company had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,967 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth $1,649,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 1,062.9% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 77,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,665,000 after purchasing an additional 71,287 shares during the period. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,290,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 232,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,882,000 after purchasing an additional 48,318 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by 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.