Sei Investments Co. Boosts Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 31.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,951 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,338 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $397,413,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492. 20.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of ASTS stock opened at $71.94 on Friday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.08 and a fifty-two week high of $133.86. The stock has a market cap of $27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.42 and a beta of 2.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.21. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The firm had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key AST SpaceMobile News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile launched three additional BlueBird satellites, reportedly doubling download speeds for direct-to-device partners. The launch strengthens the company’s network capacity ahead of its Aug. 10 earnings call and supports its goal of deploying a larger constellation by 2027. AST SpaceMobile’s Latest BlueBird Launch Raises the Stakes Ahead of Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: The company received approval to launch direct-to-cell services in Japan with Rakuten Mobile. It also announced testing and network-integration work with Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and other operators across Europe, expanding the potential addressable market for its satellite broadband service. AST SpaceMobile Secures Japan Direct To Cell Approval
• Positive Sentiment: Strength across space-related stocks, including a rally in SpaceX despite its lockup expiration, appears to be providing a favorable sector backdrop for ASTS. SpaceX Climbs as Lockup Expiration Fails to Trigger a Selloff
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting second-quarter results on Aug. 10. The report will be important for assessing commercial revenue growth, cash use, deployment timing and whether recent network developments are translating into financial progress. Heavily Shorted Satellite Stock Gearing Up for Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP is investigating potential claims on behalf of AST SpaceMobile investors. The announcement creates a legal and headline risk, although it does not establish wrongdoing. Pomerantz Investor Alert

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. B. Riley Financial raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.60.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.