Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) were down 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $66.51 and last traded at $68.23. Approximately 91,110,504 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 8% from the average daily volume of 84,501,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PLTR. Baird R W raised shares of Palantir Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Monday. William Blair reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $28.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palantir Technologies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.12.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 341.17, a PEG ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.82.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $725.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.11 million. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan D. Taylor sold 123,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $5,550,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 331,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,911,605. This represents a 27.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Andrew Cohen sold 450,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $31,927,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 592 shares in the company, valued at $42,002.40. This trade represents a 99.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,645,510 shares of company stock worth $1,444,267,325. 12.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 15,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares during the last quarter. Oriental Harbor Investment Fund acquired a new position in Palantir Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,500,000. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Palantir Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $526,000. Strathmore Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Palantir Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $832,000. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

Palantir Technologies, Inc engages in the business of building and deploying software platforms that serve as the central operating systems for its customers. It operates under the Commercial and Government segments. The Commercial segment focuses on customers working in non-government industries. The Government segment is involved in providing services to customers that are the United States government and non-United States government agencies.