AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 5.6% - What's Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) traded up 5.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $46.24 and last traded at $46.42. 3,761,890 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 12,735,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ASTS. Bank of America initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.40 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.34.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 5.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.05 and a beta of 2.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.93 and a 200-day moving average of $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.56% and a negative net margin of 7,033.22%. The business had revenue of $0.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. Analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750 in the last ninety days. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.