Jump Financial LLC Takes Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC invested approximately $14.75 million in AST SpaceMobile, acquiring 648,625 shares and owning about 0.20% of the company.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a loss of ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, significantly missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19).
• Institutional investors now hold 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile's stock, indicating strong interest from large financial entities.

Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 648,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,750,000. Jump Financial LLC owned approximately 0.20% of AST SpaceMobile at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $203,375,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $59,523,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $9,218,000. Finally, Key Colony Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 204.1% during the first quarter. Key Colony Management LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the company's stock worth $13,553,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted 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. William Blair initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total value of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total value of $418,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,789,107.28. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,250 shares of company stock worth $4,671,650. Insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS traded up $2.94 on Monday, reaching $50.01. 10,488,587 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,684,671. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.50 and a fifty-two week high of $60.95. The company's 50 day moving average is $49.49 and its 200-day moving average is $34.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 8.23 and a quick ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.