AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS Shares Purchased by First Heartland Consultants Inc.

Key Points

• First Heartland Consultants increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 31.1%, buying an additional 7,501 shares to own 31,654 shares worth about $2.30 million, and institutional investors now own 60.95% of the stock.
• ASTS reported a quarter with a big revenue beat—revenue of $54.31M (up 2,731% YoY)—but missed on EPS ($-0.26 vs. $-0.18 expected) and remains unprofitable; analysts' consensus is an average rating of "Reduce" with a $63.77 target.
• An insider, Director Keith R. Larson, bought 625 shares at $80 (raising his holdings to 2,015 shares), while major funds such as Millennium Management and UBS materially increased their positions during the period.

First Heartland Consultants Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,654 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,501 shares during the quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc.'s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company's stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 64,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,405,000 after acquiring an additional 49,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Keith R. Larson bought 625 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.00 per share, with a total value of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,015 shares in the company, valued at $161,200. This trade represents a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $88.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.96 and a beta of 2.78. The firm's 50-day moving average is $96.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.60. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.22 and a 12 month high of $129.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile's revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ASTS shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $63.77.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.