AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.13 and last traded at $38.47, with a volume of 11282524 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.40.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 3.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.10 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a quick ratio of 5.80, a current ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 315,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,389,265.36. This trade represents a 4.54% 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 55,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 174,250 shares of company stock worth $5,728,350. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company's stock worth $316,233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955,941 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,523,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,750,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.