AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Scotiabank downgraded the stock from a sector perform rating to a sector underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $72.90, but opened at $67.41. Scotiabank now has a $42.90 price target on the stock. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $70.58, with a volume of 6,115,638 shares.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ASTS. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, June 16th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Thursday, August 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.48, for a total value of $1,049,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 397,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,860,012.80. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $1,623,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,755. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 41.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alphabet Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,375,000. Rakuten Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $705,398,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $14,750,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 20.5% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 39,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 6,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.8% in the first quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. now owns 295,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,717,000 after purchasing an additional 91,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 2.5%

The firm has a market cap of $26.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.55 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a quick ratio of 8.23, a current ratio of 8.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.94.

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