Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC has made a new investment of $413,000 in AST SpaceMobile by purchasing 18,173 shares of the company.
• AST SpaceMobile recently reported earnings, missing estimates with a loss of ($0.41) per share and revenue of $1.16 million, significantly below analyst expectations.
• Institutional investors currently own 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,173 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $418,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 305,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

NASDAQ ASTS traded up $0.35 on Friday, reaching $38.72. The company had a trading volume of 7,579,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,490,324. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.88 billion, a PE ratio of -20.49 and a beta of 2.43. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.98. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.50 and a 12 month high of $60.95.

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 (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 the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ASTS shares. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.82.

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.