AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 15.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,525 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,987,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955,941 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,496,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,801,000 after buying an additional 229,759 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $59,523,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,728,000 after purchasing an additional 135,008 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,233,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,017,000 after purchasing an additional 100,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $541,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 315,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. 41.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $45.88 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.47. The company has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.05 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $54.05.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $0.72 million during 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, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.40 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.34.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.