AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Down 1.2% After Insider Selling

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded down 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $48.65 and last traded at $49.84. 1,914,913 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 11,755,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.43.

Specifically, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares in the company, valued at $20,860,012.80. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ASTS. Zacks Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Bank of America began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, June 16th. William Blair began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.41.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 4.3%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.78 and a 200 day moving average of $34.83. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of -25.53 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 7,213.90% and a negative return on equity of 26.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alphabet Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 51,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 28,025 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.