Brokerages Set AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Target Price at $85.09

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.0857.

ASTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292 over the last quarter. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after buying an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,749,000 after buying an additional 402,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,011,000 after buying an additional 350,690 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock traded down $0.56 on Friday, reaching $73.32. 7,378,336 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,718,156. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.19 and a beta of 2.69. AST SpaceMobile has a twelve month low of $36.08 and a twelve month high of $133.86. 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 (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trending Headlines about AST SpaceMobile

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New coverage highlights ASTS’s satellites as potentially useful for defense and emergency communications, reinforcing the company’s strategic value if its network can support mission-critical use cases. Can ASTS Satellites Transform the Future of Defense Communications?
• Positive Sentiment: Another July stock-picking article named AST SpaceMobile among space economy stocks to watch, suggesting some investors still see upside in the sector despite the recent pullback. 3 Space Economy Stocks to Buy in July
• Neutral Sentiment: One valuation-focused piece argued that SpaceX has the edge over ASTS because of lower valuation and faster expected 2026 sales growth, which may pressure sentiment around ASTS’s relative attractiveness. AST SpaceMobile vs. SpaceX: Which Space Connectivity Stock Wins Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish commentary on ASTS says its large capital expenditure needs could lead to further dilution, a key concern for shareholders if additional funding is required. AST SpaceMobile: The CapEx Requirement Will Lead To Further Dilution
• Negative Sentiment: Broader satellite-to-cell competition is heating up, with FCC comments favoring SpaceX and mentioning Amazon, raising concerns that ASTS may face a tougher competitive landscape. ASTS Stock Eyes Worst Week In Over A Month: FCC Chair Says SPCX, AMZN Are Heating Up Satellite-To-Cell Competition

About AST SpaceMobile

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.