HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 174.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,289 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 131,171 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AST SpaceMobile worth $4,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth approximately $203,375,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,822 shares of the company's stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 23,746 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 51,874 shares of the company's stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 28,025 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $4,220,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $3,264,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $45.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.85 and a beta of 2.33. The firm's fifty day moving average is $48.99 and its 200 day moving average is $34.01. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.50 and a 52-week high of $60.95.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,250 shares of company stock worth $4,671,650 over the last quarter. Insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ASTS. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.41.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.

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