AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 12.1% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price traded down 12.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $83.91 and last traded at $85.73. 24,249,855 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 20,540,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. UBS Group cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 12.1%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The firm has a market cap of $31.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.14 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $349,220. The trade was a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 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 business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth approximately $594,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. 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.