AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 2% – Here’s Why

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) dropped 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.36 and last traded at $26.43. Approximately 2,589,540 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 10,562,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ASTS shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $28.00 to $45.90 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $13.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 1.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.73 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 6.38 and a quick ratio of 6.38.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Adriana Cisneros acquired 4,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.32 per share, with a total value of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,391,999.04. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 45,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total transaction of $1,091,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 55,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,334,300. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 41.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 209.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,450,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,606,000 after buying an additional 5,046,667 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,531 shares during the last quarter. Masters Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth about $2,900,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,270,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter worth about $4,757,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.