Shares of AST SpaceMobile fell to $64.88 during today's morning trading session -- a decrease of -1.9% that still sees the stock 27.88% above its average analyst target price of $50.74. So there may be further downside for the Communication Equipment stock, which analysts rate as buy on average. Current target prices range from $30.0 to 60.0 dollars per share.
The market is more pessimistic on AST SpaceMobile, because its short interest -- meaning the percentage of its shares that are being shorted on an expectation of a price decline -- is quite high at 17.6%. The float includes only shares that are available for public trading, and excludes preferred shares held by insiders.
Short selling involves borrowing shares and then selling them at current market prices. In the successful version of the strategy, the shares are purchased at a lower price at some time in the future. The investor then returns the shares to the lender, and keeps the profit made on the sell/buy transaction.
We can make inferences about the market sentiment surrounding AST SpaceMobile by analyzing its rate of institutional ownership. If institutions such as hedge funds and pension funds are the primary shareholders of a corporation, it most likely means that its shares are a good investment according to those institutions' analysts.
At 35.7%, the rate of institutional ownership is average, indicating that a sufficient number of institutions have concluded that it is a stable investment. Beware, however, that the rate of institutional ownership could also indicate an ongoing proxy battle or takeover attempt -- so you should also periodically check the news about a stock whose institutional ownership you are tracking.
Overall, there is mixed market sentiment towards AST SpaceMobile because of an analyst belief that shares are overpriced, a buy rating, an unusually large proportion of its shares sold short, and only a small number of institutional investors. Investors should not base their decisions on market sentiment only, they should also be aware of a stock's fundamentals before committing.
At a glance, here are some essential statistics you may want to know about ASTS:
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It has trailing 12 month earnings per share (EPS) of $-1.86 per share
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AST SpaceMobile has a trailing 12 month Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio of -34.9 while the S&P 500 average is 29.3
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The company has a Price to Book (P/B) ratio of 18.74 in contrast to the S&P 500's average ratio of 4.74
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AST SpaceMobile is a Consumer Discretionary company, and the sector average P/E and P/B ratios are 20.93 and 2.93 respectively
