AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 2.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $61.63 and last traded at $61.44. Approximately 6,530,328 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 17,455,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. B. Riley Financial upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $93.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 13.05 and a quick ratio of 12.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.13 and a beta of 2.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.65.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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 dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 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.