Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Stock Price Up 3.7% - Here's What Happened

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 3.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $125.67 and last traded at $124.33. Approximately 32,345,098 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 79,604,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Daiwa America raised shares of Palantir Technologies to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair set a $84.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Palantir Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.95.

Palantir Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $301.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 672.25, a P/E/G ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 2.64. The company's fifty day moving average price is $110.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.16.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.13. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 6.85%. The firm had revenue of $883.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lauren Elaina Friedman Stat sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.25, for a total value of $65,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 61,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,983,793.75. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen Andrew Cohen sold 1,250,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.75, for a total transaction of $103,437,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 592 shares in the company, valued at $48,988. The trade was a 99.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,894,925 shares of company stock worth $369,820,528. 9.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,074,232 shares of the company's stock worth $3,929,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,127,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,553,438 shares of the company's stock worth $1,650,310,000 after purchasing an additional 64,973 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,360,191,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,746,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,497,843,000 after buying an additional 2,998,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,296,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,156,864,000 after buying an additional 2,818,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.