AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 38,670,000 shares, an increase of 64.9% from the August 31st total of 23,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 28.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

ASTS stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.13. The stock had a trading volume of 16,102,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,557,347. The stock has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.58 and a beta of 1.63. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.65. AST SpaceMobile has a 1-year low of $1.97 and a 1-year high of $39.08.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 4,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 56.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 209.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,450,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,046,667 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Broad Run Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 74.8% in the 4th quarter. Broad Run Investment Management LLC now owns 3,962,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,805 shares during the last quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at $2,900,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $9,270,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective 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. 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

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.