Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys 72,954 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 246.5%, owning 102,554 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million following the purchase of 72,954 additional shares.
• Institutional investors now own 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile's stock, with notable new investments from Rakuten Group Inc. and Alphabet Inc. during the first quarter of this year.
• Despite recent increases in analyst ratings, AST SpaceMobile reported a miss on expected earnings per share, with a loss of ($0.41), which was below consensus estimates of ($0.19).

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 246.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,554 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 72,954 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,218,000. Finally, Key Colony Management LLC raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 204.1% during the 1st quarter. Key Colony Management LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,553,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,789,107.28. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.82.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 1.8%

ASTS traded up $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.58. 9,074,372 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,693,586. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $48.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.77. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.50 and a 12-month high of $60.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.88 and a beta of 2.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. Analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share 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.