AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 9.3% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) were down 9.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $72.59 and last traded at $73.19. Approximately 28,183,354 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average daily volume of 18,545,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $81.33.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47. The company has a market capitalization of $28.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.12 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292 over the last 90 days. 20.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.