AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 6.8% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) were down 6.8% during mid-day trading on Monday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $106.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $117.00. AST SpaceMobile traded as low as $101.21 and last traded at $105.65. Approximately 27,009,577 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 53% from the average daily volume of 17,653,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.41.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. This trade represents a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.25, for a total value of $451,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 565,805 shares in the company, valued at $51,063,901.25. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,100,000 shares of company stock valued at $276,048,350 over the last three months. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 532,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,158,000 after acquiring an additional 172,759 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth $1,882,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $1,649,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 1,062.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 77,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,665,000 after acquiring an additional 71,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 31,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,550,000 after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 6.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $41.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.35 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.37.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The business’s revenue was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.