KBC Group NV Sells 2,333 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

KBC Group NV cut its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,333 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Close Asset Management Ltd grew 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 buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $50,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 77.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $42.90 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday. William Blair began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $58.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.55 and a 200-day moving average of $50.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of -46.95 and a beta of 2.46. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.50 and a 12 month high of $102.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.