Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Stock Price Down 2% on Insider Selling

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) traded down 2% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $29.50 and last traded at $29.56. 15,015,182 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 53,994,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.16.

Specifically, Director Alexander D. Moore sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.89, for a total transaction of $617,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,510,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,663,360.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Heather A. Planishek sold 14,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.67, for a total value of $429,870.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 576,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,666,625.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PLTR shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Monday, June 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Northland Capmk upgraded Palantir Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $66.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 246.33, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 2.72. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.04.

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

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 193,805,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,327,636,000 after buying an additional 6,466,596 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 183.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 158,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,645,000 after acquiring an additional 102,479 shares during the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the first quarter worth $360,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 185.6% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 49,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palantir Technologies in the first quarter valued at $262,000. Institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

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.