Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Takes $268,000 Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,375,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 33,259 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 888,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,208,000 after purchasing an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,182,000 after buying an additional 803,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ASTS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $74.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 8.23 and a quick ratio of 8.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.55 and a beta of 2.41. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.50 and a 52-week high of $76.00.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. Equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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