LPL Financial LLC Sells 284,667 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC significantly reduced its holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. by 80.3%, now owning only 70,033 shares after selling 284,667 shares in the first quarter.
• AST SpaceMobile experienced mixed analyst ratings, with five analysts issuing a "Buy" rating and five giving a "Hold" rating; its average price target is $48.41.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a loss of ($0.41) earnings per share, missing estimates by ($0.22), with revenues significantly below expectations at $1.16 million.

LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 80.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,033 shares of the company's stock after selling 284,667 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Alphabet Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $59,523,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,233,056 shares of the company's stock worth $26,017,000 after buying an additional 100,153 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 888,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,208,000 after purchasing an additional 34,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Colony Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $13,553,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASTS. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of 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, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were 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 directly owned 545,595 shares of the company's stock, 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 20,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,950. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,250 shares of company stock worth $4,671,650 over the last ninety days. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS traded up $2.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.07. 6,521,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,621,618. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.90 and a beta of 2.33. The business's 50-day moving average price is $49.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.34. 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 twelve month low of $17.50 and a twelve month high of $60.95.

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

AST SpaceMobile 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.