AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 5.8% – Should You Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares fell 5.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $91.63 and last traded at $92.72. 11,584,873 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 18,297,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ASTS. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.77 and a beta of 2.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $70.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a current ratio of 9.56.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Larson bought 625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.00 per share, for a total transaction of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,015 shares in the company, valued at $161,200. The trade was a 44.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. The trade was a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.