AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 3.5% – Here’s Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $63.72 and last traded at $65.62. 22,154,095 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 18,625,115 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASTS. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.31. The company has a market capitalization of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.87 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its 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). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position 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. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.