AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 9.5% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were down 9.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $61.40 and last traded at $61.86. Approximately 12,488,736 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 12,108,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. William Blair initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a current ratio of 9.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.16 and a beta of 2.76.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $442,560.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,034,567.36. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Larson purchased 715 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.02 per share, with a total value of $50,064.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,390 shares in the company, valued at $97,327.80. This trade represents a 105.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 2,140 shares of company stock worth $137,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 13.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,919,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351,539 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth about $90,129,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,266,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 33,259 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 843,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,411,000 after purchasing an additional 231,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 1,992.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 843,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,182,000 after purchasing an additional 803,240 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.