Analysts Set AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) PT at $45.98

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.8167.

ASTS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. William Blair started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $38.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. AST SpaceMobile has a 52-week low of $17.50 and a 52-week high of $60.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.98. The firm has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.49 and a beta of 2.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. On average, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 305,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 34.15% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth $14,750,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 117.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 51,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 28,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.