Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Trading Up 4.2% – Here’s What Happened

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) shares were up 4.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $76.59 and last traded at $74.49. Approximately 38,409,057 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 60,393,316 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PLTR. Argus downgraded shares of Palantir Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James downgraded Palantir Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $57.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.26. The stock has a market cap of $183.49 billion, a PE ratio of 402.77, a PEG ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.87.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $725.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $705.11 million. Palantir Technologies had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 18.01%. The company’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palantir Technologies news, insider Stephen Andrew Cohen sold 450,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $31,927,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,002.40. The trade was a 99.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 6,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total value of $254,021.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 145,625 shares in the company, valued at $5,558,506.25. The trade was a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,612,366 shares of company stock valued at $1,867,342,292. Corporate insiders own 12.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 226.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,839,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969,213 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Palantir Technologies by 943.2% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 3,300,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,788,000 after buying an additional 2,984,348 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 26.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 214,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,116,000 after buying an additional 44,768 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new stake in Palantir Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $16,372,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

About Palantir Technologies

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.