Saudi Central Bank Has $1.48 Million Stock Holdings in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Saudi Central Bank grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) by 100.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,652 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,348 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASTS. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,253,967 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at approximately $996,000. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,290,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 259.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after acquiring an additional 16,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ASTS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. B. Riley Financial upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $93.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.58.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

ASTS stock opened at $66.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.26. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.08 and a 52 week high of $133.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.90 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 12.90 and a current ratio of 13.05.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Adriana Cisneros bought 10,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $57.22 per share, for a total transaction of $619,234.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 797,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,605,656.06. This trade represents a 1.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value 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 approximately $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.