AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 14.7% on Analyst Downgrade

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) dropped 14.7% during trading on Friday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $45.90 to $44.70. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AST SpaceMobile traded as low as $21.51 and last traded at $22.87. Approximately 8,988,732 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 10,640,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.80.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on ASTS. UBS Group lifted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This represents a 16.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $62,424.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,476,699.20. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,700 shares of company stock valued at $3,220,524 in the last quarter. Insiders own 41.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth approximately $104,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.43 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 6.38 and a quick ratio of 6.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.41.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $0.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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.