AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares fell 3.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $83.40 and last traded at $86.10. 17,759,337 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 18,813,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a PE ratio of -47.83 and a beta of 2.69. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.47.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The firm had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. AST SpaceMobile’s revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,412,448,964.10. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after buying an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,749,000 after buying an additional 402,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,011,000 after buying an additional 350,690 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.