Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $34.76, but opened at $34.01. Palantir Technologies shares last traded at $34.02, with a volume of 11,395,390 shares trading hands.

Specifically, insider Heather A. Planishek sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.74, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 576,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,435,016.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 6,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.19, for a total value of $200,799.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 158,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,253,313.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, Director Alexander D. Moore sold 20,000 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.89, for a total transaction of $617,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,510,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,663,360.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Monday. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Palantir Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palantir Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.79.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $78.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 291.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 2.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.40.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $678.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.23 million. Palantir Technologies had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 16.32%. The business’s revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.01 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vantage Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Financial Partners LLC now owns 60,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,124 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Palantir Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 412.1% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 17,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 13,986 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,567,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,091,000 after buying an additional 228,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 24,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 7,574 shares during the last quarter. 45.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies Inc builds and deploys software platforms for the intelligence community to assist in counterterrorism investigations and operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company provides Palantir Gotham, a software platform which enables users to identify patterns hidden deep within datasets, ranging from signals intelligence sources to reports from confidential informants, as well as facilitates the handoff between analysts and operational users, helping operators plan and execute real-world responses to threats that have been identified within the platform.