Shares of Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) are in the green today on a relatively quiet Friday. However, an investment firm with $586 million in assets under management (AUM) recently submitted its Q1 13F form to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors must submit a 13F form to report their equity holdings at the end of each quarter. The filer, Spence Asset Management, disclosed that it had purchased over a million shares of Palantir during Q1.
Spence Asset Management Buys PLTR Stock
Spence disclosed that it had purchased 1.39 million shares of Palantir. The firm was not required to report its purchase price, although the purchase occurred sometime during Q1. In Q1, Palantir traded in a range between $9.75 and $18.53. After the purchase, Palantir is now Spence’s ninth-largest position out of 35 total positions. At current prices, the firm’s PLTR stake is worth about $17.9 million.
In addition, it can be assumed that Spence purchased PLTR stock as an investment and not as a trade. This is because the firm has an average holding period of 10.51 quarters, or 2.6 years. With the 13F filing, Spence also disclosed its entire stock portfolio. The firm’s top three positions as of Q1 are:
- Visa (NYSE:V): 174,920 shares.
- Mastercard (NYSE:MA): 103,915 shares.
- Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG): 11,465 shares.
Who Else Is Betting Big On Palantir?
Tracking aggregate institutional ownership is important, as these large funds provide liquidity and price support. Spence was early to file its 13F filing, as the deadline to submit the form is 45 days after the end of each quarter. The end of Q1 occurred on March 31, so the deadline falls on May 16. As a result, most investment funds have not yet submitted a Q1 13F form.
As of Q4, 791 funds reported owning Palantir, an increase of 10 funds from the prior quarter. Additionally, 153 funds reported initiating a new position, while 131 funds closed out their position. On top of that, the institutional put/call ratio tallies in at 1.6, which means that funds own more put options against PLTR stock than call options by a wide margin. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top shareholders of the company:
- Peter Thiel, co-founder: 163.46 million shares.
- Vanguard Group: 127.43 million shares.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 84.96 million shares.
- State Street: 33.36 million shares.
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS): 22.75 million shares.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
