AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 6.9% on Insider Selling

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was down 6.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $24.01 and last traded at $24.35. Approximately 4,210,689 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 10,595,655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.15.

Specifically, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $2,066,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 393,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total value of $62,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,476,699.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 6.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.33 and a beta of 1.63.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at about $278,000. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 2nd quarter valued at $774,000. Sender Co & Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth $177,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 31.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 12,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 150.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 126,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 76,088 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.