AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 3.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 3.5% on Monday to about $68.41, trading as low as $68.05 on ~12.4 million shares (≈19% below average); the stock has a market cap near $26.1 billion and a beta of 2.60.
• Analyst views are mixed — 2 Buys, 6 Holds and 3 Sells — giving an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target of $82.51, with individual targets ranging roughly from $43 to $115.
• Fundamentals and insider activity: AST reported Q earnings of ($0.26) vs. ($0.18) expected while revenue jumped to $54.31M (+2,731% YoY), and insiders have sold ~3.08M shares (~$274M) in the last 90 days (insiders own 30.9%, institutions 60.95%).

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 3.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $68.05 and last traded at $68.4140. Approximately 12,401,453 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 15,362,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research set a $115.00 price target on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 3.5%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.85 and a 200 day moving average of $83.37. The company has a quick ratio of 16.27, a current ratio of 16.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $26.14 billion, a PE ratio of -51.83 and a beta of 2.60.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.02% and a negative net margin of 482.16%.The business had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.53 million. The company's revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total value 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 represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,080,000 shares of company stock worth $274,452,000 over the last ninety days. 30.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Advocate Investing Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AST SpaceMobile

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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