MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 2,221 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,339 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,221 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 5.9% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 15.6% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $48.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of -25.80 and a beta of 2.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.81 and a 200 day moving average of $35.39. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.50 and a 52 week high of $60.95.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $38.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.41.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total value of $147,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $717,950. This represents a 17.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total value of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,389,265.36. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 149,250 shares of company stock worth $5,721,250 in the last ninety days. 41.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.