Alphabet Inc. Acquires New Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,943,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,375,000. AST SpaceMobile accounts for approximately 12.9% of Alphabet Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Alphabet Inc. owned approximately 2.83% of AST SpaceMobile as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $375,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 5.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $41,000. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 20.6% during the first quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 23,679 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 4,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $341,000. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares in the company, valued at $717,950. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $418,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 305,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. Insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASTS. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $45.40 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.34.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 3.7%

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $45.58 on Monday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.24 and a 1-year high of $54.05. The company has a current ratio of 10.62, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.93 and a 200-day moving average of $28.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a PE ratio of -22.90 and a beta of 2.27.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,033.22% and a negative return on equity of 23.56%. The company had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.

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