Scotia Capital Inc. Increases Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. has raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 57.4% in the first quarter, owning a total of 109,897 shares valued at approximately $2.5 million.
• AST SpaceMobile reported a loss of $0.20 per share for the latest quarter, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue of only $0.72 million against forecasts of $3.85 million.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with target prices ranging from $42.00 to $55.00.

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Free Report) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,897 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,098 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in AST SpaceMobile were worth $2,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 21,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,496,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,801,000 after purchasing an additional 229,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,822 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 23,746 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $52.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.42 and a beta of 2.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 10.62 and a quick ratio of 10.62. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.50 and a 1-year high of $60.95.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. 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. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $44.00 target price (up from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at $19,450,461.75. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.60, for a total transaction of $147,050.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 20,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $717,950. This represents a 17.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 41.80% of the company's stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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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