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. Stock investors acquired 140,181 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 19% compared to the average volume of 117,637 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.00 per share, for a total transaction of $50,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,200. This represents a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 8.9%

NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $111.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -89.68 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. AST SpaceMobile has a 1-year low of $18.22 and a 1-year high of $129.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The company’s revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.