AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 5.7% – Should You Sell?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $93.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, New Street Research set a $106.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.98.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 13.05, a quick ratio of 12.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a PE ratio of -31.04 and a beta of 2.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.58.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business posted ($0.41) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.