AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) reached a new 52-week high of $76.00 during trading, closing at $74.75 with a trading volume of over 18 million shares.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.41) earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations and indicating significant operational challenges.
• Despite recent downgrades by UBS and Scotiabank, four analysts maintain a Buy rating, while the average target price for the stock is set at $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $76.00 and last traded at $74.75, with a volume of 18184934 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $42.90 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $37.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 2.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $26.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.55 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.94.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. On average, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 41.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,000. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $201,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 246.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 21,192 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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