AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS Shares Bought by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 146.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,666 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,385 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $6,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

NASDAQ ASTS opened at $85.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47. The firm has a market cap of $33.04 billion, a PE ratio of -47.83 and a beta of 2.69. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $36.08 and a one year high of $133.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $87.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.44.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $85.09.

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.