Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 22,937,547 Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its ownership in Palantir Technologies by 10.4%, selling 22,937,547 shares and now holds about 8.46% of the company.
• Palantir reported a 48.0% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.16, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.14.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Palantir, with Citigroup increasing its target from $158.00 to $177.00, while Morgan Stanley set a new price target of $155.00.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,523,450 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,937,547 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.46% of Palantir Technologies worth $16,755,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Palantir Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 390 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 740.0% in the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 420 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. 45.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PLTR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Palantir Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler set a $182.00 target price on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Palantir Technologies from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Palantir Technologies from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.61.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

PLTR traded up $2.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $182.20. 77,586,531 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,547,432. The firm has a market capitalization of $429.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 607.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 2.60. Palantir Technologies Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.69 and a 12-month high of $184.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $144.43 and a 200 day moving average of $114.82.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $939.29 million. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 22.18% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 48.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan D. Taylor sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $5,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 363,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,657,125. The trade was a 7.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.61, for a total value of $111,688.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 62,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,779,654.07. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,515,632 shares of company stock worth $196,472,623. Insiders own 9.23% 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.