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

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile's stock hit a new 52-week high of $62.43, closing at $63.18 with a trading volume of over 6.3 million shares.
• Analysts have mixed views, with Barclays raising its target price to $60.00, while UBS lowered its target to $43.00, reflecting a range of buy to hold ratings overall.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.41) EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates, and has a current average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.43 and last traded at $63.18, with a volume of 6310238 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $37.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Tuesday, September 9th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 12.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.96 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.63.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value 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 approximately $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alphabet Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth about $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at about $14,750,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 117.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 51,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 28,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 20.5% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 39,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 6,753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

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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