AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 15.5% After Insider Selling

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were down 15.5% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $81.50 and last traded at $82.41. Approximately 54,584,193 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 201% from the average daily volume of 18,132,814 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.56.

Specifically, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, March 27th. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $81.33.

More AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary remains constructive on AST SpaceMobile’s long-term potential, highlighting its direct-to-smartphone satellite connectivity model, nearly 60 mobile network operator partners, and a large deployment pipeline that could support a move toward $150 by 2027. Prediction: Can AST SpaceMobile Soar to $150 by 2027?
• Positive Sentiment: Earlier in the week, ASTS also benefited from bullish sector momentum after BlueBird launch timing was confirmed for June 17, reinforcing the view that near-term catalysts still exist despite Friday’s pullback. AST SpaceMobile Stock Climbs Ahead of SpaceX IPO As BlueBird Launch Date Confirmed for June 17
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary are framing the move as largely sentiment-driven rather than based on fresh company-specific operating news, with SpaceX IPO excitement lifting and then pressuring comparable space stocks throughout the session. SpaceX, Tesla, EchoStar, and More Stocks That Explain Today’s Market
• Negative Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile shares are being hit in a broad space-sector reset, with one report describing the stock as down sharply alongside Virgin Galactic and Rocket Lab as investors reassess valuations after the SpaceX debut. Virgin Galactic Craters 24%, Rocket Lab Drops 8%, AST SpaceMobile Falls 10% as SpaceX Hype Triggers a Space-Stock Shakeout
• Negative Sentiment: Short-seller criticism of space stocks is adding pressure to ASTS by reinforcing concerns that many of the sector’s growth expectations are too speculative in the wake of SpaceX’s public trading debut. Space Stocks Get Torched: Short Seller Calls Them ‘Sci-Fi Wishes’

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.30 and a beta of 2.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.92.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after buying an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after buying an additional 1,425,199 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% during 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 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.