If I understand the breakdown in your note re: insider ownership, the last 8K seems misleading or something isn't quite right. According to the insider http://biz.yahoo.com/t/a/astn.html link on Yahoo!, Fred Ritterieser is registered to own 1,513,500 shares. This represents 10% of the outstanding shares of the company which is obviously greater than 8.6%
Regardless, the high degree of insider ownership is positive. About two weeks ago, I got a HUGE response to a question I put out on the Yahoo! message board. I asked for how many shares people held long and the response was phenomenal: I was able to account for 556,050 shares of common stock in very friendly hands within 12 hours. That represents another 3.7% of the company that is not going to be sold anytime soon. Believe me, these people are rabid Ashton longs!
I think my broker at Merrill Lynch is in a semi state of shock over the potential of this company. Given the estimates we have bandied about on this thread of $4/sh in annual earnings, with a modest 15 P/E, $60/sh could be in the cards. The other company I use to benchmark Ashton is Investment Tech (ITGI). I have no position, except would be interested if anyone else on this thread does own any ITGI.
Thanks EyeDrMike and good luck to everyone,
Keith |
