AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its AST SpaceMobile stake by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 232,436 shares valued at about $16.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added small new positions, and institutions now own 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile’s stock.
• Insider selling has been notable, with the CTO and a director trimming positions, while analysts remain cautious overall with an average “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $81.33.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 26.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,436 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,318 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.06% of AST SpaceMobile worth $16,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $422,180. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock worth $276,048,350. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $81.33.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of ASTS opened at $105.65 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $88.29 and its 200-day moving average is $85.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.35 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.72 and a 12-month high of $133.86.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $14.74 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AST SpaceMobile 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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