AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 7.2% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were down 7.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $65.04 and last traded at $65.28. Approximately 7,731,690 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 12,175,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ASTS shares. UBS Group downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $42.90 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.41. The company has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.54 and a beta of 2.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 8.23 and a quick ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. The company had revenue of $1.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 30.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $705,398,000. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $203,375,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,796,000 after acquiring an additional 33,259 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,182,000 after acquiring an additional 803,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 28.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,569,000 after acquiring an additional 167,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.