What happened
Despite a day of gains for the broader market, Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) stock is falling again. The data analytics company's share price was down roughly 4.2% as of 2:40 p.m. ET Friday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was up roughly 1.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite index was up roughly 1.1%.
Palantir shareholders have had a rough go of things lately, and today's sell-off appears to be driven by a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). CFO David Glazer submitted a filing on Thursday showing that he had sold some of his stock in the company, and investors seem to think it's a bad sign.
So what
Glazer's filing with the SEC shows that he sold a combined 201,190 shares from Tuesday through Thursday, or about $2.1 million worth of stock. An executive selling stock doesn't necessarily mean that the underlying company is in trouble, but Palantir shareholders have had a multitude of bearish catalysts to weigh recently, and investors are jumpy.
Image source: Getty Images.
Palantir reported its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 17, delivering sales that topped the market's expectations but earnings that fell short of the average analyst target. The company posted non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.02 on revenue of $432.9 million, while the average analyst estimate had called for earnings of $0.04 per share on sales of $418 million.
Following the earnings miss, Citigroup analyst Tyler Radke lowered his one-year price target on the stock from $13 per share to $10 per share and maintained a sell rating on the company. Palantir stock is now down roughly 19% since its Q4 release.
Now what
For the current quarter, the company expects to post $443 million in revenue and an adjusted operating margin of 23%. The company also laid out a target for an adjusted operating margin of 27% for the full-year period, and reiterated its guidance for sales growth of 30% or greater through 2025.
Palantir now has a market capitalization of roughly $22.3 billion and is valued at roughly 11 times expected sales and 57 times expected earnings.
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Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Palantir Technologies Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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