Apollon Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 158.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,876 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,870 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 13,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 923 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research 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. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $85.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $86.10 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.37 and a beta of 2.69. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.08 and a 12-month high of $133.86. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) 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 company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AST SpaceMobile News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Japan is reportedly preparing about 150 billion yen, or roughly $926 million, in subsidies for a Rakuten Group-led consortium working with AST SpaceMobile to build a direct-to-mobile satellite network in Japan, a major validation of ASTS’s technology and a potential source of meaningful revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile rose sharply after reports that it is partnering with Rakuten on a Japanese satellite communications project, reinforcing investor confidence that the company is moving closer to commercialization. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The broader space sector also got a lift from Rocket Lab’s Iridium deal, which may have helped increase investor appetite for satellite and space communications names like ASTS.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlighted AST SpaceMobile as a high-beta momentum name with a large cash runway, but this was more opinion-driven than a new company-specific event. AST SpaceMobile stock page

AST SpaceMobile Company 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.