AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS Shares Purchased by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank raised its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 100.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,652 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,348 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 64,989 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,405,000 after acquiring an additional 49,811 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter worth $168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.58.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Adriana Cisneros bought 10,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $57.22 per share, with a total value of $619,234.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 797,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,605,656.06. This trade represents a 1.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 6.1%

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $66.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 12.90, a current ratio of 13.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.90 and a beta of 2.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.26. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.08 and a fifty-two week high of $133.86.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.The firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.53 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.41) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.