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

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price was down 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 changed 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 firms have also recently commented on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.32 per share, with a total value of $129,862.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at $20,391,999.04. The trade was a 0.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total transaction of $62,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 712,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,476,699.20. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. 41.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 49.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,663,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,531 shares in the last quarter. American International Group Inc. grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 41.5% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 56,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 16,568 shares in the last quarter. Natixis increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 55,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 21,430 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 71.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 55,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 22,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Masters Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,900,000. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 9.6 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.43 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.30.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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.