Insider Selling: AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) CTO Sells 40,000 Shares of Stock

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Huiwen Yao also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 23rd, Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $92.06. The company had a trading volume of 13,611,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,706,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $89.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.72 and a beta of 2.70. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. has a one year low of $32.25 and a one year high of $133.86.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $81.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.