AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.77, but opened at $81.92. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $86.2280, with a volume of 5,419,813 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price 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 cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

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 $32.99 billion, a PE ratio of -47.76 and a beta of 2.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.33.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total transaction of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $198,270,000. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth $90,129,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.