AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 9.5% on Insider Selling

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price fell 9.5% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $74.51 and last traded at $76.70. 19,439,545 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 61% from the average session volume of 12,086,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.75.

Specifically, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In other AST SpaceMobile news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $442,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares in the company, valued at $9,034,567.36. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $62.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Barclays lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $28.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.85 and a beta of 2.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $71.03 and its 200-day moving average is $54.77. The company has a quick ratio of 9.48, a current ratio of 9.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 27.76% and a negative net margin of 1,639.59%.The company had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.10) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 225.0% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth $33,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

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.