AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 5% – Here’s Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price dropped 5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $64.40 and last traded at $64.49. Approximately 8,958,831 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 12,135,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ASTS shares. William Blair began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Barclays downgraded AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 8.23 and a current ratio of 8.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.86. The stock has a market cap of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.01 and a beta of 2.46.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 33.88%. The business had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total transaction of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 30.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.