Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 86,793 Shares of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,653 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 86,793 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Palantir Technologies were worth $6,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palantir Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $241,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Palantir Technologies by 4.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,326,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,575,000 after buying an additional 292,885 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Palantir Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Palantir Technologies by 8.6% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,210,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,667,000 after buying an additional 96,158 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its position in shares of Palantir Technologies by 34.7% in the second quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 15,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 3,966 shares during the last quarter. 45.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PLTR. Jefferies Financial Group cut Palantir Technologies from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Palantir Technologies from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. William Blair reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Palantir Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Palantir Technologies from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Palantir Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palantir Technologies

In other news, Director Peter Thiel sold 4,254,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total value of $156,444,068.82. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,234,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,883,884,291.75. This trade represents a 7.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shyam Sankar sold 5,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.08, for a total transaction of $367,920,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 752,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,755,242.88. This represents a 87.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,605,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,867,088,271. 12.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palantir Technologies Stock Up 8.5 %

PLTR opened at $80.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 402.77, a P/E/G ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.87. Palantir Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.66 and a twelve month high of $80.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.39.

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $725.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $705.11 million. Palantir Technologies had a net margin of 18.01% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palantir Technologies Inc. will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies, Inc engages in the business of building and deploying software platforms that serve as the central operating systems for its customers. It operates under the Commercial and Government segments. The Commercial segment focuses on customers working in non-government industries. The Government segment is involved in providing services to customers that are the United States government and non-United States government agencies.