68,012 Shares in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Purchased by Neo Ivy Capital Management

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management has acquired 68,012 shares in AST SpaceMobile, Inc., valued at approximately $1.5 million, during the first quarter of this year.
• Insider transactions showed that AST SpaceMobile executives, including COO Shanti B. Gupta, sold a total of 184,250 shares worth over $6 million in the past quarter, reducing their ownership to 34.15% of the company.
• The stock experienced a significant decline, trading down 9.5% recently, with analysts providing mixed ratings and a consensus price target around $45.34.

Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake 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 and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 68,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,547,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,350,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 161.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 78,815 shares of the company's stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 48,653 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 9,676 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $709,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company's stock worth $316,233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955,941 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTS traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $54.22. 4,813,205 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,243,937. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.33 and a beta of 2.27. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.98 and a twelve month high of $60.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.83 and a 200 day moving average of $30.51. The company has a current ratio of 10.62, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ASTS shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.40 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. 41.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.