Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR)’s share price was down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $42.41 and last traded at $42.83. Approximately 20,986,553 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 57,178,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus assumed coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Monday, June 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Palantir Technologies from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Palantir Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Palantir Technologies from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.29.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $96.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 360.92 and a beta of 2.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.35 and its 200-day moving average is $27.16.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.01). Palantir Technologies had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 16.32%. The company had revenue of $678.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Heather A. Planishek sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total value of $799,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 562,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,452,139.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Peter Thiel sold 4,181,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total value of $154,325,065.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,502,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,125,466.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Heather A. Planishek sold 20,000 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.95, for a total transaction of $799,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 562,006 shares in the company, valued at $22,452,139.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,831,855 shares of company stock valued at $649,330,295 over the last 90 days. 12.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Palantir Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 110.7% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Palantir Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Palantir Technologies by 105.3% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.65% of the company’s stock.

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.