AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were down 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $67.49 and last traded at $69.85. 14,773,101 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 15,442,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASTS shares. New Street Research set a $115.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays raised their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 4.1%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.49. The company has a quick ratio of 16.27, a current ratio of 16.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.70 and a beta of 2.61.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,412,448,964.10. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,080,000 shares of company stock valued at $274,452,000 over the last three months. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $397,413,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351,539 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at approximately $90,129,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.