Dakota Wealth Management Takes $2.98 Million Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 130,806 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,975,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company's stock worth $316,233,000 after buying an additional 4,955,941 shares during the last quarter. Alphabet Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $203,375,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,496,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,801,000 after acquiring an additional 229,759 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at $59,523,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,713 shares of the company's stock worth $26,728,000 after acquiring an additional 135,008 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 315,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,389,265.36. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total value of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 545,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,450,461.75. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.40 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.34.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS traded up $3.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.12. 13,893,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,833,873. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a PE ratio of -25.69 and a beta of 2.27. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.24 and a 12-month high of $54.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.