AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 7.8% – Should You Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price was down 7.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $71.03 and last traded at $71.95. Approximately 19,333,529 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 57% from the average daily volume of 12,282,946 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. UBS Group lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Barclays downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 7.8%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.41 billion, a PE ratio of -58.02 and a beta of 2.76. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,034,567.36. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total transaction of $560,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 387,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,699,160. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 2,140 shares of company stock worth $137,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth $28,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth $29,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.