AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 6.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AST SpaceMobile's stock price fell by 6.7%, trading as low as $80.85 on Friday, with a significant increase in trading volume of approximately 14.3 million shares.
• Several analysts have issued mixed ratings on AST SpaceMobile, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27, while two firms downgraded the stock recently.
• Insider trading activity showed CFO Andrew Martin Johnson selling 20,000 shares and CTO Huiwen Yao selling 40,000 shares, indicating potential concerns about the company's performance.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $80.85 and last traded at $83.49. Approximately 14,279,392 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 12,251,206 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ASTS shares. Bank of America started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Barclays downgraded 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $42.90 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.27.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.17 and a beta of 2.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 8.23 and a quick ratio of 8.23.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 26.81% and a negative net margin of 7,213.90%. On average, research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,860,012.80. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $192,755. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 34.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 20.5% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 39,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 6,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% during the first quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 295,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,717,000 after buying an additional 91,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.

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