AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 7.4% – Here’s Why

by · The Markets Daily

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTSGet Free Report)’s stock price was up 7.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $97.40 and last traded at $95.70. Approximately 13,808,398 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 15,224,483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ASTS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $63.77.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ASTS

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $96.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -71.83 and a beta of 2.77.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTSGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.00 per share, with a total value of $50,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,200. This represents a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 30.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $90,129,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories