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

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 102,923 call options on the company. This is an increase of 68% compared to the typical volume of 61,434 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASTS. Scotiabank decreased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $44.70 to $40.20 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised AST SpaceMobile to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.04.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 235.9% during the 3rd 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. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 141.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 103,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,716,000 after buying an additional 60,530 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $768,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $755,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 6.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 846,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,125,000 after acquiring an additional 47,600 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $25.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.80, a current ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.08 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.49. AST SpaceMobile has a 52-week low of $1.97 and a 52-week high of $39.08.

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.