Empowered Funds LLC Invests $621,000 in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC initiated a position in AST SpaceMobile worth approximately $621,000 by purchasing 7,490 shares. Institutional investors collectively own 60.95% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with four Buy, six Hold, and two Sell ratings. MarketBeat reports a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $85.98.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a quarterly loss of $0.77 per share, missing estimates of $0.32, while revenue of $31.52 million also fell short of expectations. The company’s CTO and CFO sold shares under disclosed transactions, while insiders retain 20.89% ownership.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Calton & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 13,579 shares of the company's stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 923 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 513 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 6.6% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.98.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

ASTS stock opened at $67.07 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $71.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.97. The company has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.34 and a beta of 2.76. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.08 and a 1 year high of $133.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 13.05 and a quick ratio of 12.90.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.The business had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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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