Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Stock Falls 6.3% – Time to Sell?

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) traded down 6.3% on Friday. The stock traded as low as $180.81 and last traded at $184.11. 26,872,014 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 41,317,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.42.

Key Palantir Technologies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect third-quarter revenue to increase approximately 84% year over year, supported by accelerating demand for Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) across government and commercial customers. Will Top-Line Improvement Benefit Palantir in Q3 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan initiated coverage with an Overweight rating, placed Palantir on its Analyst Focus List and set a December 2027 price target of $262, citing the company’s disruptive AI position and sustained demand. JPMorgan starts Palantir at Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its price target to $235 from $200 and expects another revenue beat and a potential increase to Palantir’s annual guidance. Oppenheimer Adjusts Price Target on Palantir
• Neutral Sentiment: Palantir reports third-quarter results on Nov. 2. Wall Street is anticipating exceptional revenue and profit growth, meaning the company may need to deliver strong results and guidance to support further gains. Should You Buy Palantir Stock Before Nov. 2?
• Negative Sentiment: Risk concerns are limiting enthusiasm: the stock has rallied sharply, trades at a very high earnings multiple, and Morgan Stanley maintained a Hold rating with a $205 target because of valuation. A negative earnings surprise prediction also adds near-term caution. Palantir Valuation Keeps Rating at Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Broader technology-sector weakness, uncertainty about interest rates and renewed concerns about an AI bubble are encouraging profit-taking before earnings, even as Palantir’s underlying growth outlook remains strong.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Palantir Technologies in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $262.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Palantir Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $250.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palantir Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.60.

Palantir Technologies Trading Down 6.3%

The company has a market cap of $442.43 billion, a PE ratio of 157.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.70 and its 200 day moving average is $153.88.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 49.01% and a return on equity of 30.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 92.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alexander Karp sold 492,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.79, for a total value of $86,057,506.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,432,258 shares in the company, valued at $1,124,294,375.82. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ryan Taylor sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.15, for a total value of $3,620,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 274,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,249,267.05. The trade was a 6.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 560,390 shares of company stock valued at $97,909,177. 9.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palantir Technologies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 189,817,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,146,030,000 after buying an additional 757,322 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.8% during 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 shares of Palantir Technologies by 28.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,839,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,755,883,000 after purchasing an additional 4,201,852 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Palantir Technologies by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 16,410,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,400,513,000 after purchasing an additional 398,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Palantir Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $1,574,111,000. 45.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Palantir Technologies

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.