AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded down 4.4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $86.31 and last traded at $89.93. 16,108,936 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 15,024,943 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research raised AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $63.77.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 4.4%

The firm has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.13 and a beta of 2.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 16.35 and a quick ratio of 16.27.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The business had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.53 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, Director Keith R. Larson acquired 625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.00 per share, with a total value of $50,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,200. This trade represents a 44.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $977,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351,539 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth about $90,129,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake 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 worth $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. 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.