Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases 63,689 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC increased its shares in AST SpaceMobile by 73.8%, acquiring an additional 63,689 shares, resulting in a total of 150,032 shares valued at $3,412,000.
• Insider trading activity included COO Shanti B. Gupta selling 15,000 shares for approximately $541,200, representing a 4.54% decrease in their ownership.
• Equity analysts have recently varied their price targets for AST SpaceMobile, with UBS raising their target from $38.00 to $62.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating continued strong interest in the stock.

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 73.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,032 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 63,689 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $3,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the company's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,525 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTS traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.94. 5,127,690 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,418,904. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.18. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.50 and a 12 month high of $60.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.89 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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 return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Oppenheimer started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.41.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total value of $147,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 20,750 shares in the company, valued at $717,950. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,450,461.75. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 149,250 shares of company stock valued at $5,721,250 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.