Moran Wealth Management LLC Acquires 16,259 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 38.7%, acquiring an additional 16,259 shares to bring their total to 58,300 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have also bolstered their stakes in AST SpaceMobile, with notable increases including a 388.7% growth by GAMMA Investing LLC during the 1st quarter.
• AST SpaceMobile has faced challenges in earnings, reporting a loss of ($0.41) per share for the most recent quarter, missing analysts' expectations by ($0.22).

Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,300 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,259 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of ASTS opened at $95.69 on Thursday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.50 and a fifty-two week high of $99.82. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $53.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.40. The stock has a market cap of $34.31 billion, a PE ratio of -50.63 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%.The company had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. Analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $42.90 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27.

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.

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