Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 77,167 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,167 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after buying an additional 2,351,539 shares during the period. Clear Street Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,104,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,185,000 after buying an additional 168,832 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,411,000 after buying an additional 231,549 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,382,000 after buying an additional 434,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was 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 $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,080,000 shares of company stock valued at $274,452,000 in the last three months. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $70.89 on Friday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.47 and a 12-month high of $129.89. The company has a quick ratio of 16.27, a current ratio of 16.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a PE ratio of -53.70 and a beta of 2.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.49.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.02% and a negative net margin of 482.16%.The business had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile’s revenue was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Scotiabank cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, New Street Research set a $115.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $82.51.

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.