AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 9.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) were down 9.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $92.20 and last traded at $93.27. Approximately 15,881,147 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average daily volume of 17,631,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ASTS. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated 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. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 9.1%

The stock has a market cap of $37.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.09 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.71 and its 200-day moving average is $68.91.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 211,379 shares in the company, valued at $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total value of $2,940,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,220. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 2,765 shares of company stock worth $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 102,217 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth about $21,754,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC raised its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 99,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after acquiring an additional 21,739 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,448 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,882,000. 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.