AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 4.9% - Here's Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $27.65 and last traded at $26.43. 11,088,516 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 11,986,843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASTS. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.40.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 7.5%

The business's 50-day moving average is $23.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a current ratio of 5.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of -14.55 and a beta of 2.02.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $614,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,375,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $316,233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955,941 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,523,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $14,750,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

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.