Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $38.55 and last traded at $34.7760, with a volume of 3221484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Intuitive Machines from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Intuitive Machines from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $32.00 price objective on Intuitive Machines in a research note on Friday. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Intuitive Machines to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Intuitive Machines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intuitive Machines currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.75.

Intuitive Machines Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.48 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.86.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $186.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.95 million. Equities research analysts predict that Intuitive Machines, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intuitive Machines

In other news, Director Kamal Seyed Ghaffarian sold 141,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.14, for a total transaction of $3,567,592.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,494,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,858,467.52. This represents a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Stephen J. Altemus sold 13,751 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $324,661.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,162,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,446,506.95. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 906,297 shares of company stock worth $19,922,455 over the last three months. 54.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Machines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUNR. Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania purchased a new stake in shares of Intuitive Machines during the 4th quarter valued at $52,689,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 3,582.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,453,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,809,000 after buying an additional 2,386,688 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Intuitive Machines during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,895,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Intuitive Machines by 5,262.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 1,339,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,095,000 after buying an additional 1,314,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Intuitive Machines by 523.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,260,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,457,000 after buying an additional 1,058,376 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.