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

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 878,632 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average volume of 625,289 call options.

Key Headlines Impacting Palantir Technologies

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PLTR. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Palantir Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Palantir Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.76.

Palantir Technologies Stock Up 9.2%

PLTR traded up $13.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $156.54. The company had a trading volume of 89,031,060 shares, 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 company has a market capitalization of $375.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 175.89, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.52. Palantir Technologies has a 52 week low of $118.93 and a 52 week high of $207.52.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stephen Andrew Cohen sold 319,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.04, for a total value of $43,523,821.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 592 shares in the company, valued at $80,535.68. The trade was a 99.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider David A. Glazer sold 17,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 375,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,047,921.68. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 922,524 shares of company stock valued at $125,501,302 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 9.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Palantir Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLTR. Gallacher Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palantir Technologies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 45.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.