Though Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) stock has been experiencing a strong uptrend, starting around September 6 and driven by a string of positive developments including its inclusion in the important S&P 500 index, Wall Street experts have remained cautious about the shares’ prospects.
One analyst to go against the grain is the prominent technology bull, Wedbush’s Dan Ives.
Ives believes that Palantir’s enterprise-driven AIP strategy has become a true ‘game changer’ and estimates it will enable PLTR stock to rise to $45 – 21.23% from its latest closing price of $37.12 – per an X post shared on September 25.
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Wall Street consensus remains sour on PLTR stock
Still, though Ives is far from the only Palantir bull, the consensus is decidedly more neutral on PLTR stock and experts are even turning bearish on the technology giant, as Finbold reported on September 25.
This is well-exemplified by the ratings retrieved from the stock analysis platform TradingView on the morning of September 26. Among the 23 experts represented on the website, there is a slight bias toward ‘sell’ ratings.
Indeed, seven consider Palantir shares to be a ‘strong sell,’ and one a ‘sell,’ while five rate it as a ‘strong buy’ and two as a ‘buy.’ The remaining eight analysts are ‘neutral’ on PLTR stock.
The bias is also visible in the overall 12-month price target, which comes in at $27.56 – 25.77% below Palantir stock’s latest closing price.
Additionally, the recent rating revisions are cautious, if not outright bearish.
For example, Raymond James downgraded PLTR shares from ‘outperform’ to ‘market perform’ despite remaining positive about the technology giant’s growth potential due to its involvement in the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was even more positive – and, in fact, even more bullish than Dan Ives – as its Palantir stock price target stands at $50.
On the other hand, experts with William Blair have offered a bearish assessment forecasting that PLTR will ‘underperform’ in the coming trading sessions.
Insiders and funds use PLTR stock rally for a massive selling spree
The unfavorable sentiment may, in part, be driven by the extensive selling activity. Notably, Cathie Wood’s ARK ETFs have been offloading PLTR stock and sold more than $500,000 worth of shares on September 20 alone.
Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, has also been selling a significant volume of Palantir stock. In fact, the two selling sprees – one on September 16 and the other on September 17 – saw the executive offload as much as $316 million worth of shares.
As Finbold noted on Tuesday, the sales were 20 times greater than Karp’s usual insider activity.
Palantir stock price chart
Finally, though many analysts are unsure if Palantir is set for success, PLTR’s recent strong market activity appears to support bullish analyses.
In the last 30 days, the shares rose 20.32% and, once the extended session is taken into account, 21.43% to Palantir price today, at press time, of $37.45.
Trading has, in general, been strong for PLTR in 2024. Since January 2 – the first stock market day of the year – morning bell, the technology stock has risen 123.88%.
