Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 15,950 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 116.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,600 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,950 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 27,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial River Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 10,618 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ ASTS traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $26.66. 15,672,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,577,361. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.00 and a 52-week high of $39.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 5.80. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.58 and a beta of 2.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $24.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.50.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $0.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.85 million. Research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $614,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 52,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,617,258.44. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. UBS Group raised their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.40.

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.