Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 101,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,012,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Calton & Associates Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 13,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $986,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 39.0% in 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 period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 1,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. B. Riley Financial upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ASTS opened at $59.10 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $67.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.25. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.08 and a 52-week high of $133.86. The firm has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.62 and a beta of 2.76.

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