AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Short Interest Up 7.5% in September

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 41,560,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the September 15th total of 38,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 29.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $27.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a current ratio of 6.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.85. AST SpaceMobile has a 52-week low of $1.97 and a 52-week high of $39.08. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of -28.80 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $10,157,182.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,476,699.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 393,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524 in the last ninety days. 56.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $259,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 319.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 163,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 124,322 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $580,000. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.