AST SpaceMobile Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:ASTS)

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 102,118 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 24% compared to the typical volume of 82,099 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,391,999.04. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Adriana Cisneros bought 4,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,391,999.04. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 valued at $3,220,524 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 41.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the first 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. grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 41.5% during the first 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 stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 62.2% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 55,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 21,430 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 71.1% during 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 shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at $2,900,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

NASDAQ ASTS traded up $5.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $29.56. The company had a trading volume of 20,373,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,584,765. 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 has a 1-year low of $1.97 and a 1-year high of $39.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.80 and a 200-day moving average of $18.01.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.