Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,351,539 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.56% of AST SpaceMobile worth $977,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $80.20 on Friday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.22 and a 52 week high of $129.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.31. The company has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.68 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST links its BlueBird-6 milestone to the funding move, underscoring operational progress (satellite milestone may support long?term commercial case). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile will host a quarterly business-update call on March 2 (management will take shareholder questions — could provide near-term clarity or catalysts depending on guidance). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A market note highlighted a recent closing quote that outpaced the market on one session, indicating short?term volatility in trading prints. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feeds is inconsistent/zeroed out (the published figures show 0 shares and NaN changes), so short-interest signals are unreliable right now.
• Negative Sentiment: AST issued ~$1.0B of convertible notes (2.25%), with expected net proceeds ? $983.7M (? $1.13B if option exercised); while this boosts cash runway, investors worry about dilution and conversion risk — a likely driver of selling pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary ties the convertible financing and expected use of proceeds for general corporate purposes to the stock decline today — investors reacted by reducing positions amid dilution concerns. Article Title

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,572,882.50. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,034,567.36. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 2,015 shares of company stock valued at $149,144 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $52.94.

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.