QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys New Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. by purchasing 7,081 shares for approximately $331,000 in the second quarter.
• Various institutional investors have increased their holdings in AST SpaceMobile, with Sunbelt Securities Inc. raising its position by 61.9% and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing theirs by 388.7% during the first quarter.
• AST SpaceMobile recently reported a loss per share of ($0.41), missing analysts' estimates and reflecting a negative net margin of 7,213.90% for the quarter.

QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the first 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $37.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Bank of America started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS opened at $82.03 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $50.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.08. The firm has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.40 and a beta of 2.41. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.50 and a 52 week high of $91.41. 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 (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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