Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in AST SpaceMobile, buying 2.73 million shares valued at about $198.3 million, or roughly 0.74% of the company.
• The filing also showed continued institutional activity in ASTS, with several funds adding to positions, while insiders have been net sellers of 3.1 million shares over the last 90 days.
• AST SpaceMobile’s latest results were mixed: revenue jumped sharply year over year, but the company still posted a wider-than-expected loss and analysts remain cautious, with a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,729,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $198,270,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.74% of AST SpaceMobile as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 64,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company's stock worth $7,405,000 after purchasing an additional 49,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth $168,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.25, for a total transaction of $451,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 565,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,063,901.25. This represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total value of $116,397,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,412,448,964.10. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,100,000 shares of company stock worth $276,048,350 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about AST SpaceMobile

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile is getting a lift from the broader space-stock trade, with traders bidding up names in the sector ahead of the SpaceX IPO and on heightened retail interest. AST SpaceMobile stock surges Tuesday: What's happening?
• Positive Sentiment: A new Juniper Research study projects direct-to-cell users could rise sharply over the next several years, highlighting long-term market potential for satellite-to-phone services that includes AST SpaceMobile. Direct to Cell: Monthly Active Users to Reach Over 130 Million by 2031, But Usage Forecast to be Lower Than Anticipated
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary notes ASTS is moving with a wider divergence in space stocks, with speculative trading and sector momentum driving sharp swings rather than a company-specific announcement. Virgin Galactic Crashes 32% on Settlement Dilution Fears, AST SpaceMobile Rises 10%, Planet Labs Climbs 9%
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst chatter has also become a drag, with one note pushing the timeline for commercialization out to 2028 and saying intermittent coverage may not generate meaningful revenue in 2027, which keeps monetization concerns in focus. ASTS, RKLB, LUNR, RDW, RKTO Extend Slide Premarket After Blue Origin Blowup — Analyst Pushes AST Coverage Timeline To 2028
• Negative Sentiment: Broader space-sector weakness is also pressuring ASTS at times, as investors pull back from high-beta space names amid valuation cuts and risk-off sentiment. Space Stocks Slide Again As ETF Drops Nearly 10% In Two Days

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 11.9%

NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $118.17 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock's fifty day moving average is $88.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.64. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.80 and a 52 week high of $133.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.39 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $81.33.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ASTS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.