WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes $4.27 Million Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd bought 86,984 shares of AST SpaceMobile in Q3 — a new position valued at about $4.27 million, as institutions now own roughly 60.95% of the stock.
• Insider transactions: Director Keith R. Larson purchased 715 shares at $70.02, while COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares at $77.34 (≈$773,400); insiders own about 30.90% of the company.
• Mixed analyst outlook — the consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average price target of $63.77; the company posted a large revenue beat ($54.31M, +2731% YoY) but missed EPS estimates and reported deeply negative margins.

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 86,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,269,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASTS. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 0.5% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 56,619 shares of the company's stock worth $2,646,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 3.7% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Keith R. Larson acquired 715 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.02 per share, with a total value of $50,064.30. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,327.80. This represents a 105.93% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,015 shares of company stock worth $149,144. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ASTS. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $45.60 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research raised AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $63.77.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $89.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.94 billion, a PE ratio of -68.00 and a beta of 2.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a current ratio of 16.35. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.22 and a 52-week high of $129.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.43 and a 200 day moving average of $74.65.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The firm had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.53 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS 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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