AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 7.8% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile shares fell 7.8% on Monday, trading as low as $66.73 after closing at $73.32 the prior session, with volume below its average.
• Analyst sentiment has turned cautious: Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Hold and lowered its price target, while the consensus rating now sits at Reduce with an average target price of $85.09.
• Recent fundamentals and insider activity have been weak, as the company missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, and executives including the CTO and CFO sold shares in recent transactions.

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) were down 7.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $66.73 and last traded at $67.58. 12,928,533 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 18,419,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of -38.02 and a beta of 2.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $87.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.72. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 18.37 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The company had revenue of $14.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the company's 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292 in the last three months. 20.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 109,486.8% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,003,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,899 shares during the last quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at $1,972,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 76,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,400 shares during the period. Fulcrum Equity Management lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 32.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 5,430 shares of the company's stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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