Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in Q4, buying 1,568,292 shares to hold 21,488,180 shares (about 5.85%) valued at roughly $1.56 billion per its SEC filing.
• Major insider Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares for about $154.5 million, and insiders have sold 3,080,000 shares (~$274.45 million) over the last 90 days, with insiders owning ~30.9% of the company.
• Analysts are mixed but cautious: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average price target of $82.51 (targets range ~ $45.60–$117), while the stock shows high volatility and a market cap near $28.2 billion.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,488,180 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,568,292 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.85% of AST SpaceMobile worth $1,560,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. New Street Research set a $115.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $82.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total transaction of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,080,000 shares of company stock valued at $274,452,000. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 5.8%

ASTS opened at $73.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.98 and a beta of 2.81. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.47 and a 12 month high of $129.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. AST SpaceMobile's quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AST SpaceMobile Profile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company's core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.

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