Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 13,800 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,800 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $4,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASTS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after buying an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,634,000 after buying an additional 64,989 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after buying an additional 49,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $168,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $276,048,350. 20.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $105.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.47 and a beta of 2.60. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.47. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.47 and a 52 week high of $129.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $79.45.

Key AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Defiance launched ASTY, a 2X long ETF on AST SpaceMobile, signaling strong trader demand for bullish exposure to ASTS. Defiance Launches ASTY: The 2X Long ETF for AST SpaceMobile, Inc.
• Positive Sentiment: ASTS is benefiting from broader enthusiasm for space infrastructure names ahead of the SpaceX IPO, which has lifted sentiment across satellite and launch stocks. SpaceX IPO Filing Is Moving Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, and Other Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary has also pointed to AST SpaceMobile’s FCC approval and its role as a likely beneficiary of rising satellite-to-phone demand, supporting the company’s long-term growth narrative. Forget SpaceX. These 2 Space Stocks Could Be the Real Winners Of the Coming IPO Frenzy
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles focused on ASTS’s huge multi-year run and asked whether the stock is getting expensive, suggesting some investors are weighing valuation against future growth. Is It Too Late To Consider AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) After Its Recent 17x Three Year Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: ASTS CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 5,000 shares, a small insider sale that may prompt some caution, though his remaining stake is still substantial. SEC insider filing

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.