AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 12.3% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded up 12.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $83.28 and last traded at $82.87. 14,997,896 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 14,915,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $63.77.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.20. The company has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of -62.78 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a quick ratio of 16.27, a current ratio of 16.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,180. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 64,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after purchasing an additional 49,811 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at $168,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.