Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires New Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon acquired 764,206 AST SpaceMobile shares worth approximately $67.9 million, while institutional investors collectively own 60.95% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with an overall consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.98; targets range from $85 to $106, alongside a recent sell rating.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss of $0.77 per share and revenue below estimates. The stock opened at $62.01, well below its 52-week high of $133.86, while two senior executives recently sold shares.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 764,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,907,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.20% of AST SpaceMobile as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,967 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth $1,649,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at $996,000. Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,290,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 259.5% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 16,918 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $93.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of ASTS stock opened at $62.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.98 and a beta of 2.75. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.08 and a 52-week high of $133.86. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average is $82.34.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned ($0.41) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. 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. 20.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AST SpaceMobile 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.

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