AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 7.4% – Time to Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price was down 7.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $64.91 and last traded at $65.4250. Approximately 18,492,181 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 15,488,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ASTS shares. B. Riley Financial decreased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $117.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 7.4%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.01. The company has a market cap of $24.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.56 and a beta of 2.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a current ratio of 16.35.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total transaction of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,080,000 shares of company stock valued at $274,452,000 over the last ninety days. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 3,642 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 64,989 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,405,000 after buying an additional 49,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth about $168,000. 60.95% of the stock is 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.