AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 5.3% - Here's Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) was up 5.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $25.60 and last traded at $25.37. Approximately 4,667,509 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 12,529,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 1.5%

The firm has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a PE ratio of -10.95 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.53.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. Analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total value of $614,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 52,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,617,258.44. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. 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.