AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 1.3% - Here's What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) dropped 1.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.78 and last traded at $23.27. Approximately 3,222,767 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 10,929,755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASTS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.40.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 4.3%

The stock has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.88 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 5.80. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.51.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $0.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.85 million. On average, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $614,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 52,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,258.44. This represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 55,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total transaction of $1,475,100.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASTS. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% during the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.