Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 102,118 call options on the company. This is an increase of 24% compared to the average daily volume of 82,099 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 21.8 %

Shares of ASTS traded up $5.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.56. 20,373,255 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,584,765. The company has a quick ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 6.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. AST SpaceMobile has a twelve month low of $1.97 and a twelve month high of $39.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.01.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $62,424.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,476,699.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total transaction of $1,091,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 55,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,300. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $62,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at $16,476,699.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524 in the last three months. 41.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,531 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 56,527 shares of the company's stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 16,568 shares during the period. Natixis grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 55,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 21,430 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 71.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,335 shares of the company's stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 22,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Masters Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth about $2,900,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.