AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Here’s Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was up 2.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $89.87 and last traded at $88.86. Approximately 23,680,412 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 18,817,725 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $33.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.59 and a beta of 2.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.41. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 18.37 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) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

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