Brokerages Set AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Price Target at $81.33

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.3250.

A number of research firms recently commented on ASTS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,185,809 shares of company stock valued at $284,200,492 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.3%

AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $87.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. AST SpaceMobile has a 52 week low of $36.08 and a 52 week high of $133.86. The company has a market capitalization of $33.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.20 and a beta of 2.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.38.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.