AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 5.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile shares fell 5.3% on Monday, trading as low as $80.11 and closing near $80.64, below the prior close of $85.13.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" with a consensus target price of $85.09, and several firms recently downgraded or maintained sell/underweight views.
• The company continues to post deep losses, with its latest quarter missing EPS and revenue estimates; insiders have also been selling shares, including a 15,000-share sale by a director and a large sale by major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $80.11 and last traded at $80.64. Approximately 11,989,341 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 18,740,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASTS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 5.3%

The firm has a market cap of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.30 and a beta of 2.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.38 and a 200 day moving average of $89.59. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.AST SpaceMobile's revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,412,448,964.10. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,145,809 shares of company stock worth $280,645,292 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Calton & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 13,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 923 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 513 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. 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.

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