AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 5.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $66.01 and last traded at $67.07. Approximately 9,264,299 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 17,827,982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 5.7%

The stock has a market cap of $26.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.34 and a beta of 2.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.03 and its 200 day moving average is $84.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 13.05 and a quick ratio of 12.90.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,809 shares of company stock valued at $8,603,392. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew 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. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.