AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price was down 5.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $95.70 and last traded at $96.27. Approximately 10,146,600 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 17,088,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 5.7%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.36. The firm has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.68 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. AST SpaceMobile’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.10) earnings per share. Analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 387,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,699,160. This trade represents a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 102,217 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $21,754,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 532,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,158,000 after buying an additional 172,759 shares during the period. Yarbrough Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 99,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after buying an additional 21,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 9,448 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.