AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 4% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile's stock increased by 4%, closing at $50.02 after trading as high as $49.90, though trading volume decreased significantly to approximately 2,138,030 shares.
• Analyst upgrades include UBS Group raising the price target to $62.00 while B. Riley increased theirs to $44.00, with a consensus average price target of $48.41.
• The company reported a quarterly loss with an earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.41), missing estimates and reflecting a negative net margin of 7,213.90% on revenue of only $1.16 million.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) rose 4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $49.90 and last traded at $50.02. Approximately 2,138,030 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 11,929,381 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.41.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a market cap of $15.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.30 and a beta of 2.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.66. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. On average, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $418,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,250 shares of company stock worth $4,671,650 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the first 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. Binnacle Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth about $38,000. 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.

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