Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases New Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a stake of 240,149 shares in AST SpaceMobile, Inc., valued at approximately $5.46 million, representing about 0.08% of the company's total shares.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of ($0.20), falling short of analysts' expectations of ($0.17), and had a revenue of $0.72 million compared to the $3.85 million forecast.
• Institutional investors currently hold 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile's shares, with significant recent acquisitions from firms like Alphabet Inc. and T. Rowe Price Investment Management.

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 240,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,461,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.08% of AST SpaceMobile at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $45.40 to $42.90 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.99.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

AST SpaceMobile stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,155,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,908,155. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.50 and a 1-year high of $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 10.62 and a quick ratio of 10.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.48. The company has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.43 and a beta of 2.33.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by ($0.03). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.56% and a negative net margin of 7,033.22%. The business had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total value of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,450,461.75. The trade was a 8.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $541,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 315,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,389,265.36. The trade was a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.