AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 7.8% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) traded down 7.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $56.16 and last traded at $56.60. 9,344,898 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 12,102,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $42.90 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Roth Capital reissued 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $20.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.78 and a beta of 2.46. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.55 and its 200-day moving average is $50.14.

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

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,860,012.80. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Rakuten Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth $705,398,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth about $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,796,000 after buying an additional 33,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,411,000 after buying an additional 231,549 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.