EVR Research LP Increases Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

EVR Research LP raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 13.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 330,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the quarter. AST SpaceMobile makes up approximately 6.7% of EVR Research LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. EVR Research LP owned approximately 0.10% of AST SpaceMobile worth $15,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter worth approximately $705,398,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after acquiring an additional 102,217 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at $14,750,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth $21,754,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 9,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,755. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,394,621 shares of company stock worth $165,971,275. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

ASTS stock opened at $76.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a current ratio of 9.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.57. The company has a market capitalization of $28.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.85 and a beta of 2.76. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.50 and a 52-week high of $102.79.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.10) EPS. Research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.66.

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.