Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Trading 3.2% Higher - Here's What Happened

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $70.38 and last traded at $70.35. Approximately 23,996,589 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 70,494,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PLTR. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W upgraded Palantir Technologies to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group began coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Palantir Technologies in a report on Friday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $43.78.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $70.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.17. The stock has a market cap of $163.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 2.82.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. Palantir Technologies had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 18.01%. The company had revenue of $725.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Palantir Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palantir Technologies

In related news, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 8,054 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $406,646.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 130,250 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,322.50. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alexandra W. Schiff sold 4,000 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total value of $286,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 195,393 shares in the company, valued at $13,996,000.59. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,642,189 shares of company stock worth $1,444,232,453 in the last quarter. 12.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 60.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,387,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $460,798,000 after purchasing an additional 4,667,955 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 370,625 shares of the company's stock worth $13,786,000 after buying an additional 68,945 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 541,567 shares of the company's stock worth $20,146,000 after buying an additional 87,062 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 97.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 202,006 shares of the company's stock worth $7,515,000 after buying an additional 99,921 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $639,000. 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.