AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 7.8% – Should You Sell?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price was down 7.8% during trading on Monday . The company 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 session volume of 18,419,748 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASTS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. New Street Research set a $106.00 target price on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $85.09.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.02 and a beta of 2.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.72. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,350,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.22, for a total transaction of $116,397,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,980,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,412,448,964.10. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,145,809 shares of company stock valued at $280,645,292. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vodafone Ventures Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth $198,270,000. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $90,129,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.