AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 7.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 7.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $103.75 and last traded at $104.78. 11,732,446 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 18,537,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ASTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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 report on Friday, October 17th. B. Riley cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.12. The company has a market cap of $38.46 billion, a PE ratio of -84.50 and a beta of 2.70.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The business’s revenue was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.10) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. The trade was a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,572,882.50. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders bought 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.