AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 9.2% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) traded down 9.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $62.31 and last traded at $62.35. 10,758,474 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 17,629,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a PE ratio of -28.98 and a beta of 2.75. The company has a current ratio of 13.05, a quick ratio of 12.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.The company had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.41) EPS. Research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 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.