Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Shares Up 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) shares were up 5.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $63.39 and last traded at $62.96. Approximately 34,847,246 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 57,705,605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Palantir Technologies from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $16.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Palantir Technologies from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Palantir Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.71.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $132.55 billion, a PE ratio of 295.96 and a beta of 2.70.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $725.52 million for 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%. Palantir Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palantir Technologies

In other news, insider Alexander C. Karp sold 4,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total value of $247,635,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,432,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,967,157.74. This represents a 41.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 8,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.06, for a total transaction of $514,411.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 121,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,047,903.40. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,239,238 shares of company stock valued at $1,036,731,557 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLTR. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 269.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the period. 45.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.