AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 4.8% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shot up 4.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $23.81 and last traded at $23.60. 2,646,809 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 10,502,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $45.90 to $44.70 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a current ratio of 5.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of -11.67 and a beta of 1.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. The trade was a 16.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total transaction of $1,091,700.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 55,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,334,300. The trade was a 45.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524. 41.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 3,380.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,267,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,450,000 after buying an additional 281,749 shares during the period. K2 Principal Fund L.P. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth approximately $1,308,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,091,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,845,000 after purchasing an additional 399,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.