Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 3.5%, now owning 14,461,249 shares valued at approximately $328.85 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Alphabet Inc. and Wells Fargo, have increased their stakes in AST SpaceMobile, with overall institutional ownership at 60.95%.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a wider-than-expected loss of ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19).

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,461,249 shares of the company's stock after selling 526,102 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.57% of AST SpaceMobile worth $328,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $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 1st quarter worth $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.41.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares in the company, valued at $717,950. This trade represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,250 shares of company stock worth $4,671,650. 34.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

ASTS traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.08. 7,096,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,049,318. The firm has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.85 and a beta of 2.33. The stock's fifty day moving average is $48.99 and its 200 day moving average is $34.01. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $17.50 and a one year high of $60.95.

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). The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal 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.