Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) Shares Down 4% Following Insider Selling

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) saw its shares decrease by 4% during trading on Monday after an insider made a sale of company stock. The shares hit a low of $71.16 before settling at $72.99. In total, 60,452,724 shares were exchanged, marking a 1% increase over the average session volume of 59,941,855 shares. Prior to the trading session, the stock had closed at $76.07.

Insider Selling Details:

Insider Stephen Andrew Cohen was responsible for the share sales, having sold 416,053 shares on Friday, December 13th for an average price of $74.17, amounting to a total of $30,858,651.01. After this transaction, Cohen was left with 592 shares, valued at approximately $43,908.64. This sale represented a staggering 99.86% reduction in his ownership of the stock. Additionally, Cohen sold another 450,000 shares on December 11th, this time at an average price of $70.95, totaling $31,927,500.00. Again, his ownership fell by 99.87% following this trade. The details of these transactions were reported in filings with the SEC.

Moreover, another insider, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat, sold 10,721 shares on December 6th for an average price of $76.78, which totaled $823,158.38. After her sale, she retained 100,923 shares, valued at around $7,748,867.94, resulting in a 9.60% drop in her position.

Analysts Provide Price Forecasts

Equity analysts have recently weighed in on Palantir Technologies. Northland Capital Market adjusted their rating to "hold" on August 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target from $37.00 to $44.00 and categorized the stock as "underperform" in a note released earlier this month. Baird R W also upgraded their rating to "hold," while William Blair reiterated their "underperform" rating on December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Palantir’s rating from "hold" to "underperform" and set a target price of $28.00.

Currently, six equity research analysts recommend selling the stock, ten have a hold rating, and two advise buying it. MarketBeat.com reports that Palantir Technologies holds an average rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $38.40.

Stock Performance Overview

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.75 and a 200-day moving average of $38.63. Palantir Technologies has a market capitalization of $166.16 billion, along with a P/E ratio of 364.97 and a PEG ratio of 10.18, indicating a volatile investment with a beta of 2.87.

Recent Earnings Results:

On November 4th, Palantir disclosed its latest earnings, reporting $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.09. The company achieved a return on equity of 9.94% and net margins of 18.01%, with revenues reaching $725.52 million, outperforming analyst expectations of $705.11 million. This revenue figure reflects a year-over-year increase of 30.0%. Analysts predict Palantir Technologies will report an EPS of 0.21 for the current year.

Institutional Investor Activities

Several hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Palantir Technologies recently. Charles Schwab Investment Management expanded its holdings by 60.5% in the third quarter, owning 12,387,040 shares valued at $460,798,000 after acquiring an additional 4,667,955 shares. The State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its ownership by 22.9%, now holding 370,625 shares worth $13,786,000. Oppenheimer & Co. raised its position by 19.2%, while Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its holdings by 97.9%. Coldstream Capital Management also entered a new stake valued at around $639,000. Overall, institutional investors and hedge funds currently own 45.65% of Palantir Technologies’ stock.

About Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies Inc. specializes in creating software platforms designed to support the intelligence community in counterterrorism efforts both in the U.S. and internationally. The company's flagship product, Palantir Gotham, helps users discover intricate patterns within large data sets from various sources, enhancing the collaboration between analysts and operational teams to effectively respond to identified threats.

Palantir, Stocks, Selling