Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Increases Stock Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. $ASTS

Key Points

• Police & Firemen's Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 129.8% in Q2, acquiring 65,550 shares worth about $3.06 million after adding 37,024 shares.
• AST SpaceMobile missed Q3 expectations—EPS ($0.45) vs. ($0.18) expected and revenue $14.74M vs. $22.04M est.—the stock traded down and analysts' consensus rating is "Reduce" with a $45.27 target price.

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 129.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,550 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,024 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey's holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 77.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $42.90 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. William Blair began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 7.8%

Shares of AST SpaceMobile stock opened at $56.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.50 and a 12-month high of $102.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.64 and a beta of 2.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $65.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.91.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.10) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,755. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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