Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes Position in AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at about $45,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $1,475,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.65, for a total transaction of $1,782,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 545,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,450,461.75. This represents a 8.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 184,250 shares of company stock worth $6,146,750. Company insiders own 34.15% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $52.63 on Thursday. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $12.24 and a one year high of $54.05. The stock has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of -26.45 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 10.62 and a current ratio of 10.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.71.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.40 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Roth Capital initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 note on Monday, June 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.34.

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.