Bank of Nova Scotia Invests $5.46 Million 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 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 240,149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,461,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.08% of AST SpaceMobile at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at $203,375,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $59,523,000. Key Colony Management LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 204.1% during the first quarter. Key Colony Management LLC now owns 596,000 shares of the company's stock worth $13,553,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $7,294,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,496,825 shares of the company's stock worth $73,801,000 after acquiring an additional 229,759 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of ASTS opened at $52.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.42 and a beta of 2.33. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $17.50 and a one year high of $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.00.

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

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 545,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,450,461.75. This trade represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,146,750. Insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Roth Capital initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.40 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.34.

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.

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