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

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $75.75, but opened at $73.28. Palantir Technologies shares last traded at $73.20, with a volume of 13,265,365 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Palantir Technologies from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush increased their price target on Palantir Technologies from $57.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $16.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W upgraded Palantir Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Palantir Technologies from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.40.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 357.57, a P/E/G ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.87.

Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) last issued 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. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The company had revenue of $725.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $705.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stephen Andrew Cohen sold 416,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.17, for a total transaction of $30,858,651.01. Following the sale, the insider now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,908.64. This trade represents a 99.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter Thiel sold 4,254,666 shares of Palantir Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total value of $156,444,068.82. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,234,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,883,884,291.75. This trade represents a 7.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,612,366 shares of company stock worth $1,867,342,292. Insiders own 12.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 747.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies in the second quarter worth $25,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Palantir Technologies during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palantir Technologies by 46.0% in the third quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. 45.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

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.