AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $55.73 and last traded at $56.20. 10,922,697 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 18,521,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.18.

More AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators continue to argue that the recent pullback is a buying opportunity, saying AST SpaceMobile’s long-term direct-to-device satellite connectivity story remains intact and that launch-vehicle issues, not lost demand, are behind recent volatility.
• Positive Sentiment: There is speculation that the new $1 billion note proceeds could support a launch-provider acquisition, which may help AST SpaceMobile reduce long-term reliance on SpaceX and Blue Origin and improve vertical integration. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful change in available figures, so it does not appear to be a major fresh driver for the stock today.
• Negative Sentiment: The $1 billion convertible note deal is the clearest near-term negative, as investors may view it as a potential source of future share dilution and added balance-sheet complexity. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm investigation into claims on behalf of ASTS investors adds legal uncertainty and can weigh on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares have also been under pressure from a broader risk-off move in launch and space-related stocks, reflecting investor caution ahead of a key test flight and ongoing volatility in the sector.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ASTS shares. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of -31.57 and a beta of 2.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.58.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.20) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile 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 directly owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492 over the last ninety days. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after buying an additional 1,568,292 shares in the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,749,000 after acquiring an additional 402,505 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,011,000 after acquiring an additional 350,690 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.