North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases New Stake in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in AST SpaceMobile, buying 6,813 shares valued at about $495,000.
• Institutional ownership in AST SpaceMobile remains high, with several large investors recently increasing positions and about 60.95% of the stock held by institutions and hedge funds.
• The company is seeing both bullish catalysts and caution signs: new partnerships and ETF interest support the story, but recent earnings missed estimates and insiders have been selling shares.

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $495,000.

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

Key AST SpaceMobile News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Defiance launched ASTY, a 2X long ETF tied to AST SpaceMobile, underscoring strong trader demand for bullish exposure to ASTS. Defiance Launches ASTY: The 2X Long ETF for AST SpaceMobile, Inc.
• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile is benefiting from broader interest in space stocks as the SpaceX IPO story boosts valuations across launch, satellite, and AI infrastructure names. SpaceX IPO Filing Is Moving Rocket Lab, CoreWeave, and Other Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Orange announced new partnerships with AST SpaceMobile to expand direct-to-cell satellite services, including trials in Romania, reinforcing commercial momentum for its network. Orange Satellite And Cyber Moves Add New Angles To Valuation Story
• Positive Sentiment: The company also received support from industry commentary highlighting its FCC approval to provide commercial direct-to-device service in the U.S. and its position as a major beneficiary of rising satellite telecom demand. Forget SpaceX. These 2 Space Stocks Could Be the Real Winners Of the Coming IPO Frenzy
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles focused on ASTS’ sharp long-term run and valuation, suggesting investors are weighing whether the stock’s strong momentum has already priced in a lot of future growth. Is It Too Late To Consider AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) After Its Recent 17x Three Year Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 5,000 shares, a small insider sale that may add a bit of caution for some investors, though the position remains largely intact. SEC insider filing

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,412,448,964.10. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $276,048,350. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $96.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.06 and a beta of 2.60. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $84.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $129.89.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business's revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ASTS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $79.45.

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.

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