Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. by 2.1%, now owning approximately 0.39% of the company, valued at about $28.19 million.
• Institutions own 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile's stock, with major investments from Alphabet Inc. and Wells Fargo, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a significant earnings miss with an EPS of (0.41), far below analysts’ expectations, alongside a negative net margin of 7,213.90%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,239,620 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,093 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.39% of AST SpaceMobile worth $28,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 5.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 15.6% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total value of $147,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $717,950. This represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,250 shares of company stock valued at $4,671,650. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

ASTS stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.98. 3,518,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,879,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $48.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.01. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.50 and a 52-week high of $60.95. The company has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.80 and a beta of 2.33.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.16 million for 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%. As a group, analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.41.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.