Northern Trust Corp Purchases 33,259 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,259 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.40% of AST SpaceMobile worth $28,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.84, for a total transaction of $418,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 305,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,107.28. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,250 shares of company stock worth $5,721,250. Insiders own 34.15% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $48.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.89 and a beta of 2.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.14. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.50 and a 1 year high of $60.95.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. As a group, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.41.

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.