Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Intuitive Machines shares gapped down at Thursday’s open, falling from a prior close of $35.68 to $32.16 before recovering to around $35.02 intraday.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: several firms raised price targets, but the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with a consensus price target of $21.55. Eight analysts rate it Buy, three Hold, and two Sell.
• The company recently beat EPS estimates but missed revenue expectations in its latest quarterly report, while insider selling has been notable, including a director sale of 141,909 shares under a 10b5-1 plan.

Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.68, but opened at $32.16. Intuitive Machines shares last traded at $35.0150, with a volume of 6,721,160 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LUNR. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Intuitive Machines from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Intuitive Machines from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Intuitive Machines from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Intuitive Machines from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Intuitive Machines from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.55.

Intuitive Machines Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.19 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.55.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $44.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.37 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Intuitive Machines, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kamal Seyed Ghaffarian sold 141,909 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.14, for a total transaction of $3,567,592.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,494,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,858,467.52. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Timothy Price Crain II sold 8,447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total value of $199,433.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 351,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,293,697.19. The trade was a 2.35% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 993,100 shares of company stock valued at $21,312,171. 54.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intuitive Machines

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Intuitive Machines by 627.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. LBP AM SA lifted its holdings in shares of Intuitive Machines by 87.2% during the 3rd quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 256,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,698,000 after buying an additional 119,419 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Machines by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 486,752 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,121,000 after buying an additional 129,896 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 717,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Intuitive Machines by 78.9% in the third quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,073,233 shares of the company's stock worth $21,810,000 after buying an additional 914,458 shares during the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.