Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC acquired 58,779 shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc., worth approximately $1.34 million, reflecting increasing interest from institutional investors in the company.
• AST SpaceMobile's recent quarterly earnings reported a loss of ($0.20) EPS, missing estimates, with revenues of only $0.72 million compared to anticipated $3.85 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for AST SpaceMobile, with an average price target of $44.99, indicating potential growth despite recent losses.

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 58,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,822 shares of the company's stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 23,746 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 70,667 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 17,925 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $1,192,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $1,350,000. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 69,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 9,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. Insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ASTS shares. Bank of America assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.99.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 8.4%

AST SpaceMobile stock traded up $3.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $49.76. The company had a trading volume of 21,536,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,465,814. The firm has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.33 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.50 and a 1 year high of $60.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.94.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 32.12% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. The business had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share 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.