AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 7.4% – Should You Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price traded down 7.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $82.25 and last traded at $80.42. 2,802,422 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 16,141,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ASTS shares. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, March 27th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $79.45.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The stock has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.33 and a beta of 2.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.20.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. AST SpaceMobile’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,095,000 shares of company stock valued at $275,597,100. 20.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $397,413,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth approximately $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351,539 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at $90,129,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.