Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 228.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,131,705 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 787,566 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of AST SpaceMobile worth $29,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,531 shares in the last quarter. Privium Fund Management B.V. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter valued at $21,476,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,270,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,757,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,387,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.51. 7,251,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,536,856. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.97 and a 12-month high of $39.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.62 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 5.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $45.90 to $44.70 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This trade represents a 16.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total value of $62,424.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,476,699.20. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524. 41.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.