AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 7.9% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price rose 7.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $101.68 and last traded at $97.67. Approximately 24,347,363 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 20% from the average daily volume of 20,243,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $69.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.42. The company has a market cap of $35.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.77 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.AST SpaceMobile’s revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total value of $2,940,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,220. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors 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.