Insider Buying: AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Director Buys $619,234.84 in Stock

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile director Adriana Cisneros bought 10,822 shares for approximately $619,235, increasing her direct ownership by 1.38% to 797,023 shares.
• ASTS shares fell 5.6% to $55.80, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, after the company reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss and revenue below analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an average “Hold” rating and an $85.98 price target; institutional investors own nearly 61% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 10,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.22 per share, with a total value of $619,234.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 797,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,605,656.06. The trade was a 1.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 5.6%

Shares of ASTS stock traded down $3.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.80. 8,307,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,298,785. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.08 and a fifty-two week high of $133.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.25. The company has a quick ratio of 12.90, a current ratio of 13.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $21.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.07 and a beta of 2.76.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 536.66% and a negative return on equity of 22.88%. The business had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.41) EPS. Equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $85.98.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 11,947.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,526,551 shares of the company's stock worth $2,801,449,000 after purchasing an additional 31,264,875 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $198,270,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company's stock worth $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

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.

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