AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ASTS. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 17.0%

ASTS opened at $55.01 on Wednesday. AST SpaceMobile has a fifty-two week low of $36.08 and a fifty-two week high of $133.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.11 and a 200-day moving average of $89.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of -30.90 and a beta of 2.69.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,492. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting AST SpaceMobile

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

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile with an Overweight rating, signaling continued analyst confidence in the long-term opportunity. SpaceX, RocketLab rated Neutral, ASTS rated Overweight at Piper Sandler
• Positive Sentiment: The company also reported progress on its satellite network, including regulatory approval in New Zealand, Bell Canada’s completed ground station in Québec, and the arrival of BlueBird 11 ahead of upcoming launches. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Secures Global Approvals As Texas Expansion And Launches Near
• Positive Sentiment: Shares may also be getting some short-term technical support as the recent decline has pushed the stock closer to oversold territory, which can sometimes trigger a bounce. AST SpaceMobile stock sinks on double dose of bad news

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.