AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 2.6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile's shares rose by 2.6% during Wednesday's trading, with the last traded price at $37.87, despite a significant decline in volume.
• Recent analyst ratings show a mixed outlook for the stock, with Zacks upgrading it to "hold" and UBS reducing its target price from $62.00 to $43.00.
• In its latest earnings report, AST SpaceMobile missed consensus estimates, reporting a loss of $0.41 per share against an expectation of $0.19 loss, along with revenues significantly below forecasts.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 2.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $38.10 and last traded at $37.87. 4,049,557 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 11,692,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. William Blair began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.82.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 0.9%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 8.23 and a quick ratio of 8.23. The company has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.49 and a beta of 2.43.

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

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 305,667 shares in the company, valued at $12,789,107.28. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.