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

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $45.90 to $44.70. The stock had previously closed at $26.80, but opened at $23.18. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $22.32, with a volume of 2,695,117 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ASTS. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on 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

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.26, for a total value of $1,091,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 55,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,334,300. This represents a 45.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Scott Wisniewski sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.12, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524. 41.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASTS. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter worth $68,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth $87,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the third quarter valued at $104,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 9.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 6.38, a current ratio of 6.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.41. The firm has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of -11.43 and a beta of 1.64.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.00 million. Analysts expect 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.