Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Shares Down 9.7% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Palantir shares fell 9.7% to $154.99 on heavier-than-usual trading. A director sold 1,358 shares for about $253,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her stake by 2.93%.
• The company beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.44 earnings per share and $2.31 billion in revenue; revenue rose 95.9% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $214.53, but investors remain concerned about Palantir’s premium valuation and signs of slowing contract growth.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) dropped 9.7% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $152.60 and last traded at $154.99. Approximately 48,871,180 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 41,323,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.70.

Specifically, Director Lauren Friedman Stat sold 1,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.29, for a total value of $252,981.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 45,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,391,246.76. This trade represents a 2.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC set a $215.00 price target on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Northland Securities set a $200.00 price target on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Palantir Technologies from $265.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palantir Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.53.

Key Headlines Impacting Palantir Technologies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Palantir reported quarterly revenue of $2.31 billion, up 95.9% year over year, and earnings of $0.44 per share, both ahead of consensus estimates. The company’s accelerating AI business and record growth support its long-term outlook. Palantir's quarterly results
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive: ARK Invest reportedly bought $11.2 million of Palantir shares, and several analysts have raised or reaffirmed bullish ratings and price targets. ARK Invest purchase
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that contract growth is cooling despite fast revenue growth. Reports cited a sharp slowdown in total contract value growth, raising questions about how quickly current AI demand will convert into future bookings. Contract growth concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Palantir’s premium valuation leaves little room for concerns to be overlooked. Investors are also weighing possible cuts to a proposed defense budget and a wider market pullback from high-growth AI and software stocks. Defense spending and market concerns

Palantir Technologies Stock Down 9.7%

The stock's 50-day moving average is $186.84 and its 200-day moving average is $153.86. The firm has a market cap of $372.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.65.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 50.34% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 95.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 0.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 189,817,693 shares of the company's stock worth $22,146,030,000 after acquiring an additional 757,322 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 2.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 104,490,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,190,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863,874 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Palantir Technologies by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,020,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,219,094,000 after purchasing an additional 180,486 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Palantir Technologies by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 17,623,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,056,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,653 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Palantir Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,574,111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.65% of the company's stock.

Palantir Technologies Company Profile

Palantir Technologies Inc develops software platforms that help government agencies and commercial organizations integrate, analyze and act on data. Its products are designed to support complex operations such as defense and intelligence, supply-chain management, manufacturing, healthcare and other data-intensive activities.

Palantir's principal platforms include Gotham, which is primarily used by government and defense customers; Foundry, which helps commercial and institutional users build data-driven workflows; Apollo, a platform for deploying and managing software across diverse environments; and the Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which connects generative artificial intelligence capabilities with an organization's data and operational systems.

Founded in 2003, the company initially focused on software for government and national-security applications before expanding into commercial markets.

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