Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) stock is down more than 9% following a warning from William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma. Back in December 2019, Palantir signed a four year contract with the U.S. Army worth $458 million. However, DiPalma believes that the renewal of the contract could come at a lower price tag due to disagreements over data ownership and competition from other companies. DiPalma stated that this issue is “unique to Palantir’s business model.” Meanwhile, the contract in question is up for renewal in just a few weeks.
DiPalma made his warning following an industry event in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. “The tone of the comments and plan to ‘maximize the use of open-source vendors’ provide a strong indication that Palantir’s renewal contract…will be significantly less than the original $458 million,” said DiPalma.
The analyst has hypothesized that the U.S. Army will provide Palantir with a two-year contract that will eventually be less than the $116 million annual run rate that the big data company is currently receiving. He attributes this to the U.S. Army hiring other vendors to fill in the gap of Palantir’s work.
5 Investors Betting Big on PLTR Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During the third quarter, 872 13F filers disclosed a stake in PLTR stock, an increase of 14 filers compared to the prior quarter. In total, these filers increased their exposure in the company by 9.68% to 805.94 million shares from 734.82 million shares. Additionally, 27 of these filers own PLTR in their top 10 positions.
Hedge funds, whose data is included in 13F metrics, seemed bullish as well. These investors own 205.05 million shares, up by 12.92% from the prior count of 181.60 million shares. Total hedge fund owners declined to 159 from 167.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five shareholders of Palantir:
- Vanguard: 187.33 million shares. Vanguard acquired 18.75 million shares during Q3.
- Peter Thiel, co-founder: 163.46 million shares. Thiel’s stake is accurate as of Q4 2022.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 105.47 million shares. BlackRock acquired 2.42 million shares during Q3.
- Renaissance Technologies: 43.60 million shares. Renaissance acquired 3.80 million shares during Q3.
- State Street (NYSE:STT): 37.01 million shares. State Street acquired 1.20 million shares during Q3.
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.
