KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases 8,300 Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its ownership in AST SpaceMobile by 26.5%, acquiring an additional 8,300 shares, bringing its total to 39,600 shares valued at approximately $1,851,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 60.95% of AST SpaceMobile’s stock, with notable purchases from Alphabet Inc. and Rakuten Group Inc. in the first quarter.
• Research analysts generally maintain a "Hold" rating on AST SpaceMobile, with a consensus target price of $45.27, while also highlighting a significant miss in earnings expectations.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,600 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,300 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alphabet Inc. bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 39,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 6,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 295,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,717,000 after buying an additional 91,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of ASTS opened at $82.03 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $50.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.18. The company has a current ratio of 8.23, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.50 and a 12 month high of $91.41. The company has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.40 and a beta of 2.41.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. The business had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.37 million. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AST SpaceMobile 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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