AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 8.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price rose 8.4% during trading on Monday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $44.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. AST SpaceMobile traded as high as $42.93 and last traded at $41.59. Approximately 9,287,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 12,390,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.37.

ASTS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.73.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 315,667 shares in the company, valued at $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $717,950. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 174,250 shares of company stock worth $5,728,350 over the last ninety days. 34.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,728,000 after acquiring an additional 135,008 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $755,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 23,746 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 51,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 28,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 150.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 258,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 155,310 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.61 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a current ratio of 5.80, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.08.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.