Moran Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 42,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first 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 period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ASTS. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Roth Capital began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.40 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.34.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.36. 31,681,089 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,723,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. The company has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.80 and a beta of 2.02. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.48. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.17 and a twelve month high of $54.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,033.22% and a negative return on equity of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million. As a group, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 305,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $717,950. The trade was a 17.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 34.15% 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.