Independent Financial Group LLC Makes New $6.83 Million Investment in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Independent Financial Group LLC disclosed a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter, buying 82,484 shares valued at about $6.83 million.
• Institutional ownership in AST SpaceMobile remains high, with major firms like Vanguard, Morgan Stanley, Geode Capital, and State Street all increasing or holding sizable positions. Overall, institutional investors own about 60.95% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating, while Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold. The consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $86.95.

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 82,484 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,835,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company's stock worth $1,560,687,000 after buying an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company's stock worth $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company's stock worth $328,749,000 after acquiring an additional 402,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company's stock worth $287,011,000 after purchasing an additional 350,690 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.95.

More AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile with an Overweight rating, signaling continued analyst confidence in the long-term opportunity. SpaceX, RocketLab rated Neutral, ASTS rated Overweight at Piper Sandler
• Positive Sentiment: The company also reported progress on its satellite network, including regulatory approval in New Zealand, Bell Canada’s completed ground station in Québec, and the arrival of BlueBird 11 ahead of upcoming launches. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Secures Global Approvals As Texas Expansion And Launches Near
• Positive Sentiment: Shares may also be getting some short-term technical support as the recent decline has pushed the stock closer to oversold territory, which can sometimes trigger a bounce. AST SpaceMobile stock sinks on double dose of bad news

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% 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, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 17.0%

AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $55.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.90 and a beta of 2.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $87.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.34. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.08 and a 1-year high of $133.86. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The business had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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