Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) Stock Price Up 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) shares traded up 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $178.49 and last traded at $177.50. 27,655,802 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 46,124,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.73.

Key Headlines Impacting Palantir Technologies

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

• Positive Sentiment: William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma reiterated a Buy rating, saying Palantir’s Maven Smart System is on track to reach approximately $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. Maven’s designation as an official Pentagon “program of record” could support longer-term, more predictable defense spending and adoption across the military. Palantir Stock Gains as William Blair Says Maven Is on Track for $1B ARR
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a major catalyst: revenue rose nearly 93% year over year to $1.94 billion, while earnings exceeded expectations. Growth-focused coverage highlights Palantir’s expanding commercial business, government relationships and modular software sales model as reasons the company could continue outperforming the market. 3 Reasons Growth Investors Will Love Palantir Technologies
• Positive Sentiment: Truist maintained a Buy rating and a $223 price target, while other bullish analysts see potential for a return toward the low-$200 range as defense spending and Maven adoption accelerate. Palantir Earns Buy Rating as Maven Nears Billion-Dollar Status
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy options positioning around the September 18 expiration suggests traders expect another significant move, but it may increase short-term volatility rather than establish a clear direction. Palantir Stock Could Be in for a Big September
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains the principal risk. With Palantir trading at roughly 150 times earnings after a sharp recent rally, skeptics argue that exceptionally strong growth must continue to justify the stock price. Palantir’s Kool-Aid Moment
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling—including sizable sales by CEO Alex Karp and continued selling by co-founder Peter Thiel—could weigh on sentiment, although the transactions were made under pre-arranged plans and partly to cover tax obligations. Coverage also flags competition for European government and defense contracts, including from France’s ChapsVision. Palantir’s Bet Against Management

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PLTR. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Friday, July 31st. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palantir Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $215.00 price target on Palantir Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palantir Technologies to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palantir Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.19.

Palantir Technologies Trading Up 2.8%

The firm has a market cap of $426.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $140.52 and its 200-day moving average is $141.05.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 49.01% and a return on equity of 30.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 92.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palantir Technologies

In other Palantir Technologies news, insider Shyam Sankar sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.70, for a total transaction of $5,449,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 642,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,081,780.20. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Alexander C. Karp sold 492,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.79, for a total transaction of $86,057,506.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,432,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,124,294,375.82. The trade was a 7.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 723,431 shares of company stock valued at $117,330,908. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 11,040.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 383,800,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,778,024,000 after acquiring an additional 380,355,408 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 189,817,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,146,030,000 after acquiring an additional 757,322 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Palantir Technologies by 1.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $9,599,882,000 after buying an additional 805,047 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palantir Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,149,641,000. 45.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Palantir Technologies

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.