AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS Holdings Trimmed by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management trimmed its AST SpaceMobile stake by 18.4% in the first quarter, leaving it with 61,247 shares valued at about $5.1 million.
• Insiders have been selling: CTO Huiwen Yao and CFO Andrew Martin Johnson both reduced their positions, and insiders sold a total of 3.15 million shares worth $280.6 million over the last 90 days.
• AST SpaceMobile missed earnings expectations in its latest quarter, posting a larger-than-expected loss and revenue below forecasts, while analysts currently hold a consensus rating of “Reduce.”

Moran Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,247 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,792 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $5,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $198,270,000. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,129,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company's stock worth $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292 over the last 90 days. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $85.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The company has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.83 and a beta of 2.69. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $36.08 and a one year high of $133.86. The company's fifty day moving average price is $87.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.44.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.AST SpaceMobile's quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ASTS. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company's core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.

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