AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 10.6% Higher - What's Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 10.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.71 and last traded at $44.35. 21,208,036 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 71% from the average session volume of 12,403,065 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASTS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.73.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 4.9%

The company has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.38 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a quick ratio of 10.62, a current ratio of 10.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.32 and its 200 day moving average is $25.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 315,667 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $203,375,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955,941 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at $59,523,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,182,000 after purchasing an additional 803,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

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.