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

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price fell 14.7% 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. 8,988,732 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 10,640,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.80.

ASTS has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $22.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 4,934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.32 per share, for a total transaction of $129,862.88. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 774,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,391,999.04. The trade was a 0.64 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total value of $2,066,400.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 393,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,157,182.56. This represents a 16.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,700 shares of company stock worth $3,220,524. 41.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 3rd quarter valued at $68,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter worth $87,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the third quarter valued at about $104,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.43 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.30.

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