AST SpaceMobile Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 140,181 call options on AST SpaceMobile on Friday, about a 19% increase versus the typical daily call volume of 117,637.
• Significant insider selling: COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares at $77.34 and CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares at $73.52; insiders sold 2,354,621 shares (~$164.35M) over the last 90 days but still own 30.90% of the company.
• Weak results and cautious analyst stance: Shares fell $9 to $113.10 after AST missed Q results (EPS -$0.45 vs. -$0.18 expected; revenue $14.74M vs. $22.04M), and the consensus analyst rating is Reduce with a $45.66 target.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 140,181 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the typical daily volume of 117,637 call options.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total value of $2,940,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $349,220. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of ASTS stock traded down $9.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.10. 15,058,693 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,657,918. AST SpaceMobile has a 52 week low of $18.22 and a 52 week high of $129.89. The stock has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -91.06 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The stock's 50-day moving average is $82.69 and its 200-day moving average is $66.78.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company's core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.

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