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

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares were up 8.4% on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $38.00. UBS Group 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 changed hands 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.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $40.20 to $47.90 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $418,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750 in the last 90 days. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 5.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 15.6% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,525 shares of the company's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 10.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.29 and a beta of 2.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 10.62 and a quick ratio of 10.62.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,033.22% and a negative return on equity of 23.56%. On average, equities analysts expect 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.