Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

LUNR has been the topic of several other research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Intuitive Machines from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on Intuitive Machines to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Intuitive Machines from $26.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Intuitive Machines from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intuitive Machines in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Intuitive Machines currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.65.

Intuitive Machines Stock Performance

Shares of Intuitive Machines stock opened at $33.67 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.31. Intuitive Machines has a 52-week low of $7.78 and a 52-week high of $38.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of -38.26 and a beta of 1.47.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $186.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.95 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Intuitive Machines will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Altemus sold 13,751 shares of the business’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 transaction of $324,661.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Timothy Price Crain II sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.55, for a total value of $2,632,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 359,726 shares in the company, valued at $6,313,191.30. The trade was a 29.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,048,206 shares of company stock valued at $24,782,839 over the last 90 days. 54.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intuitive Machines

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Intuitive Machines by 627.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,048,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 904,065 shares during the period. LBP AM SA boosted its stake in Intuitive Machines by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 256,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 119,419 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Intuitive Machines by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,090,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,067,000 after purchasing an additional 717,256 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Intuitive Machines by 78.9% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,073,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,810,000 after purchasing an additional 914,458 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Intuitive Machines in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,696,000. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.