AST SpaceMobile Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 99,078 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the typical volume of 77,319 call options.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.3 %

NASDAQ ASTS traded up $1.49 on Friday, reaching $25.32. The company had a trading volume of 24,210,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,600,704. The firm has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.58 and a beta of 1.63. AST SpaceMobile has a fifty-two week low of $1.97 and a fifty-two week high of $39.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 6.38 and a quick ratio of 6.38.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. Analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 4,934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 56.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 209.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,450,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,046,667 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,531 shares during the last quarter. Broad Run Investment Management LLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Broad Run Investment Management LLC now owns 3,962,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,805 shares during the last quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $2,900,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at $9,270,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

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.