Palantir Technologies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Key Points

• Palantir saw unusually heavy options activity on Friday, with investors buying 878,632 call options — about 41% above the average volume — suggesting strong bullish speculation.
• The stock jumped 9.2% to $156.54 on much higher-than-normal trading volume, while recent news tied Palantir to renewed AI optimism and a stronger software-sector backdrop.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Alexander Karp and executive David A. Glazer, but the sales were disclosed as being made to cover tax withholding obligations from vesting equity awards.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 878,632 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 41% compared to the average volume of 625,289 call options.

Insider Activity at Palantir Technologies

In other news, insider David A. Glazer sold 17,128 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.04, for a total transaction of $2,330,093.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 375,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,047,921.68. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Alexander C. Karp sold 397,744 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.04, for a total transaction of $54,109,093.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,432,258 shares in the company, valued at $875,044,378.32. This represents a 5.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 922,524 shares of company stock valued at $125,501,302. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Palantir Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLTR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 215,444,098 shares of the company's stock worth $38,295,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,828 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 102,385,317 shares of the company's stock worth $18,198,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126,418 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 54,200,265 shares of the company's stock worth $9,599,882,000 after purchasing an additional 805,047 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $5,149,641,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,415,082 shares of the company's stock worth $3,984,281,000 after purchasing an additional 616,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.65% of the company's stock.

Palantir Technologies News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Palantir Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Solid earnings from Snowflake and broader software-sector strength lifted sentiment around Palantir, with investors viewing it as a beneficiary of renewed AI demand. Palantir Stock Is Having Its Best Day in a Year. Software Looks Like a Buy Again.
• Positive Sentiment: Dell’s earnings beat helped validate Palantir’s AI Factory partnership, reinforcing the view that Palantir’s enterprise AI strategy is gaining traction and could support future revenue growth. Palantir Soars 10% as Dell Earnings Beat Validates Their AI Factory Partnership, Snowflake Lifts Software Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call buying in PLTR suggests traders are positioning for more upside, which can add near-term momentum to the stock. What's Going On With Palantir Stock Friday?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst-focused coverage continued to highlight Palantir’s strong growth profile and potential upside versus current price targets, supporting the bullish narrative. Does Palantir Technologies (PLTR) Have the Potential to Rally 35.91% as Wall Street Analysts Expect?
• Neutral Sentiment: Articles highlighting Palantir as a founder-led or long-term growth stock may help sustain investor interest, but they do not appear to be immediate stock-moving catalysts. 3 Founder-Led Stocks Focused on Long-Term Wealth Building
• Neutral Sentiment: Peter Thiel’s move to Argentina drew attention because of his ties to Palantir, but the direct financial impact on PLTR is unclear for now. Thiel moves family to Milei’s libertarian Argentina

Palantir Technologies Stock Up 9.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PLTR traded up $13.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.54. 89,031,060 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 48,248,379. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $141.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.13. The stock has a market cap of $375.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 175.89, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.52. Palantir Technologies has a one year low of $118.93 and a one year high of $207.52.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 43.67% and a return on equity of 28.34%. The company's revenue was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palantir Technologies will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on PLTR shares. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Palantir Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $151.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Northland Securities raised shares of Palantir Technologies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Argus raised shares of Palantir Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.76.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

Palantir Technologies is a software company that develops data integration, analytics and operational decision-making platforms for government and commercial customers. Founded in 2003 by a team that included Alex Karp and Peter Thiel, Palantir has grown into a provider of enterprise-scale software designed to help organizations integrate disparate data sources, build analytic models and drive operational workflows. The company went public in 2020 and continues to position its products around large, complex data projects where security, provenance and real-time collaboration are important.

Palantir's product portfolio centers on a small number of core platforms.

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