Rakuten Securities Inc. Has $3.25 Million Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,759 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,405 shares during the period. AST SpaceMobile accounts for about 1.1% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $3,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,104,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,185,000 after purchasing an additional 168,832 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,411,000 after buying an additional 231,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 125.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 782,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,382,000 after buying an additional 434,615 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $78.75 on Friday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $22.07 and a one year high of $129.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27. The company has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.66 and a beta of 2.81.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,180. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,980,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,412,448,964.10. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,080,000 shares of company stock worth $274,452,000. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.