Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Shares Down 5.4% After Insider Selling

Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) fell 5.4% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $70.31 and last traded at $71.85. 42,862,020 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 68,711,211 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.92.

Specifically, insider Ryan D. Taylor sold 483,987 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.48, for a total transaction of $36,047,351.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 170,273 shares in the company, valued at $12,681,933.04. The trade was a 73.97 % decrease in their position. 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 800 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.29, for a total transaction of $61,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,740,584.31. This trade represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Palantir Technologies from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Palantir Technologies from $28.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. William Blair reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.12.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.06. The company has a market cap of $159.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 349.97, a PEG ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.82.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $705.11 million. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLTR. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Palantir Technologies by 747.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 46.0% during the third quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.