Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $32.09, but opened at $34.35. Intuitive Machines shares last traded at $33.2880, with a volume of 3,245,219 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LUNR. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intuitive Machines in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Intuitive Machines from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Intuitive Machines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Intuitive Machines from $16.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Intuitive Machines from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.55.

Intuitive Machines Trading Up 12.8%

The firm has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.03 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.38.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $44.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.37 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Intuitive Machines, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intuitive Machines news, CFO Peter Mcgrath sold 24,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total value of $579,719.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 401,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,473,418.06. This trade represents a 5.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Stephen J. Altemus sold 13,751 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total value of $324,661.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,162,495 shares in the company, valued at $27,446,506.95. This trade represents a 1.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 993,100 shares of company stock worth $21,312,171. Corporate insiders own 54.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Machines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 553,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,256,000 after buying an additional 27,108 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 76.4% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 211,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,920,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Intuitive Machines in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Intuitive Machines Company Profile

Intuitive Machines is a Houston, Texas–based aerospace company specializing in commercial lunar exploration and services. The firm develops end-to-end solutions for robotic missions to the Moon, providing spacecraft design, mission management, navigation, communications, and data services under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Founded in 2013 by aerospace engineers Steve Altemus, Tim Crain and Kris Kimel, Intuitive Machines has grown from a small startup into one of the leading private entities pursuing lunar surface deliveries.