HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Has $1.50 Million Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its AST SpaceMobile stake by 147% in the fourth quarter, ending with 20,632 shares worth about $1.5 million.
• Institutional interest in ASTS remains significant, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 60.95% of the stock. Notable holders such as Vanguard, Van ECK, Invesco, and Jump Financial all raised their positions.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is “Reduce” with an average price target of $79.45, even as some firms like Roth Mkm and Deutsche Bank maintain higher targets.

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 147.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,632 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,278 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $90,129,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,382,000 after purchasing an additional 434,615 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 610.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 475,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,222,000 after purchasing an additional 408,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2,126.2% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 379,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,611,000 after purchasing an additional 362,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASTS. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $79.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 5,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.25, for a total transaction of $451,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 565,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,063,901.25. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $276,048,350. 20.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS opened at $105.86 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $85.38 and its 200-day moving average is $83.80. The stock has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.47 and a beta of 2.60. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.47 and a twelve month high of $129.89. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

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 firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS 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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