ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Insider selling: Multiple executives — Director Duncan Moore, CFO Heather Kiessling and COO Robert Ainscow — sold shares (Kiessling and Ainscow partially to cover tax withholding on vested awards), and the stock gapped down, opening at $5.14 from $5.37.
• Earnings miss and mixed ratings: ASP reported quarterly EPS of ($0.84) vs. ($0.14) expected and a deeply negative net margin, while analysts are split (two Buys, one Sell) with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.

ASP Isotopes Inc. (NASDAQ:ASPI - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $5.37, but opened at $5.14. ASP Isotopes shares last traded at $5.3290, with a volume of 415,179 shares trading hands.

Specifically, Director Duncan Moore sold 11,642 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.21, for a total value of $60,654.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,044,928 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,074.88. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Heather Kiessling sold 23,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.48, for a total transaction of $126,719.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 709,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,887,380.48. This trade represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In other ASP Isotopes news, COO Robert Ainscow sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.21, for a total value of $117,225.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,490,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,764,551.57. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASPI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of ASP Isotopes in a report on Friday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of ASP Isotopes in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.00.

ASP Isotopes Stock Down 0.7%

The company's 50-day moving average is $5.06 and its 200 day moving average is $6.70. The company has a market capitalization of $671.68 million, a PE ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 3.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 12.20 and a current ratio of 12.23.

ASP Isotopes (NASDAQ:ASPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 10th. The company reported ($0.84) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.70). ASP Isotopes had a negative net margin of 734.14% and a negative return on equity of 161.55%. The firm had revenue of $33.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that ASP Isotopes Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ASP Isotopes

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASPI. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in ASP Isotopes by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,895,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072,851 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of ASP Isotopes by 150.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,406,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,875,000 after buying an additional 1,445,165 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of ASP Isotopes by 3,669.1% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,279,121 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,305,000 after buying an additional 1,245,184 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ASP Isotopes by 37.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,516,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,451,000 after buying an additional 1,241,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovida Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of ASP Isotopes by 45.5% during the third quarter. Rovida Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,200,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,688,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. 16.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ASP Isotopes

ASP Isotopes Inc, a development stage advanced materials company, focuses on the production, distribution, marketing, and sale of isotopes. It engages in the production and commercialization of Molybdenum-100, a non-radioactive isotope for the medical industry; Carbon-14; and Silicon-28. The company is also developing Quantum Enrichment technology to produce Ytterbium-176, Nickel-64, Lithium 6, Lithium7, and Uranium-235. ASP Isotopes Inc was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Washington, District Of Columbia.

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