AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 24.7% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price traded up 24.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $30.35 and last traded at $30.25. 11,070,649 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 10,529,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. B. Riley lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a current ratio of 6.38.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.00 million. Equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,391,999.04. This represents a 0.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total value of $1,091,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 55,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,300. This trade represents a 45.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524. 41.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 209.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,450,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046,667 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,531 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 228.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,131,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,594,000 after acquiring an additional 787,566 shares in the last quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,900,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 6.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 846,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,125,000 after acquiring an additional 47,600 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.