Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 94,695 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the average daily volume of 73,824 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total value of $614,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,258.44. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 235.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 174,007 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,728,000 after purchasing an additional 135,008 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at about $755,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 23,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 150.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 258,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,460,000 after acquiring an additional 155,310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $26.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.50. AST SpaceMobile has a 12 month low of $2.25 and a 12 month high of $39.08. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.52 and a beta of 2.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.