Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Trading Up 3.8% – Time to Buy?

Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) shot up 3.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.39 and last traded at $39.6470. 16,017,813 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 16,462,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LUNR. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Machines to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Intuitive Machines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intuitive Machines in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Machines in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Intuitive Machines in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Intuitive Machines Stock Down 14.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of -38.44 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.33.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $186.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.95 million. On average, analysts forecast that Intuitive Machines, Inc. will post -0.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Intuitive Machines

In related news, Director Kamal Seyed Ghaffarian sold 283,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $5,330,102.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,494,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,631,743.04. This trade represents a 7.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Peter Mcgrath sold 24,554 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $579,719.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 401,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,473,418.06. The trade was a 5.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 1,190,115 shares of company stock valued at $30,320,128. Insiders own 54.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Machines

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Intuitive Machines by 13.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,090,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,067,000 after acquiring an additional 717,256 shares in the last quarter. Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania purchased a new position in Intuitive Machines during the fourth quarter valued at $52,689,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Intuitive Machines by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,095,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,238,000 after acquiring an additional 557,517 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Intuitive Machines by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,735,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,399,000 after purchasing an additional 61,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Intuitive Machines by 18.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,677,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,165,000 after purchasing an additional 415,359 shares during the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Intuitive Machines

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.