AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 24.7% - Here's What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares were up 24.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.35 and last traded at $30.25. Approximately 11,070,649 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 10,529,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.80 and a 200 day moving average of $18.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a current ratio of 6.38.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 393,232 shares in the company, valued at $10,157,182.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 4,934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524 in the last three months. 41.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company's stock worth $19,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,531 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at about $278,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 141.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 103,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 60,530 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter valued at about $673,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2,418.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 29,795 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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