AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 8.9% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) were down 8.9% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $108.67 and last traded at $111.21. Approximately 19,585,312 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 17,932,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut 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. B. Riley downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 8.9%

The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.68 and a beta of 2.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.78.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The firm’s revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,034,567.36. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 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.