AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 2.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $111.25 and last traded at $113.57. 11,491,312 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 18,986,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASTS. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays downgraded AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.96. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -91.59 and a beta of 2.70.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.00 per share, with a total value of $50,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,015 shares in the company, valued at $161,200. This trade represents a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after acquiring an additional 102,217 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth $21,754,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 99,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 21,739 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 9,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 22.4% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 5,239 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.