Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $123.77, but opened at $112.71. Palantir Technologies shares last traded at $106.13, with a volume of 52,820,277 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PLTR. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $28.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palantir Technologies from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush set a $140.00 price target on Palantir Technologies and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "sell" rating on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.70.

Palantir Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $274.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 615.19, a PEG ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 2.68. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $92.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.95.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13. The firm had revenue of $883.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.89 million. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 6.85%. Palantir Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 39.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palantir Technologies

In related news, insider Shyam Sankar sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total transaction of $2,772,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 702,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $64,958,509.98. This trade represents a 4.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Heather A. Planishek sold 13,891 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.96, for a total value of $1,610,800.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 512,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,372,215.76. The trade was a 2.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,978,181 shares of company stock worth $252,115,667 in the last three months. 12.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLTR. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palantir Technologies during the third quarter worth about $347,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Palantir Technologies by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 171,653 shares of the company's stock worth $6,385,000 after buying an additional 86,793 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 226.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,839,680 shares of the company's stock worth $105,636,000 after buying an additional 1,969,213 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its position in Palantir Technologies by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 2,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Oriental Harbor Investment Fund acquired a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $33,500,000. 45.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.