The trading activity of members of Congress continues to be widely followed by retail investors. A new disclosure by a U.S. senator is raising red flags because it was reported after the deadline. Here are the details.
• Palantir Technologies stock is surging to new heights today. Why are PLTR shares rallying?
Senator Discloses New Trades
Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) recently disclosed the sale of Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) stock, as reported by the Benzinga Government Trades page.
The transactions were:
- April 16, 2025: Sold $1,000 to $15,000 in Palantir stock
- June 3, 2025: Sold $1,000 to $15,000 in Palantir stock
Both trades were listed as sourced to a child, meaning they were likely stock transactions made by one of the senator's children.
The problem with the disclosure was that the trade filing made on May 5, 2026, came around a year after both sales were made, which would violate the deadline of the STOCK Act. Members of Congress have 45 days to disclose stocks bought and sold by themselves or immediate family members.
Benzinga reached out to Sen. Hickenlooper for comment and did not hear back.
"We just caught new STOCK Act violations. Senator John Hickenlooper JUST filed trades made last year. One of his children sold up to $30,000 of Palantir stock," Quiver Quantitative tweeted.
The latest disclosure also showed the senator selling $500,000 to $1,000,000 in shares of Liberty Broadband (NASDAQ:LBRDK). That trade was made by Hickenlooper's spouse on May 19, 2025, making the disclosure nearly a year after the trade was made.
There are no buy disclosures of Palantir stock for Hickenlooper, making it hard to pinpoint when the stock was bought by his child. Hickenlooper disclosed his child having the asset in 2024, based on a May 2025 filing.
Based on the filings, Hickenlooper's child owned Palantir stock before their father joined the Senate in 2021 or bought Palantir stock before the end of 2024 and it was never disclosed.
Palantir stock traded between $8.90 and $33.50 in 2020, the year the company went public.
Regardless of when the Palantir shares were bought, one of the sales left significant profits on the table. Palantir stock traded between $89.62 and $97.30 on April 16, 2025, the day of the first sale. Today, shares trade at $138.32, or 54% higher than the low on that sale day.
On June 3, 2025, Palantir stock traded between $130.10 and $135.28, which is closer to today's price, but still shows Hickenlooper's child missed out on additional profits.
Hickenlooper's Trading History
The latest disclosures aren't the first by Hickenlooper. The senator was previously flagged for violations of the STOCK Act in 2022 by Business Insider.
Colorado Newsline has also singled out some of Hickenlooper's trades as conflicts of interest based on his Senate committees. This includes buying shares of Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN), while serving on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and buying shares of Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) while serving on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
Hickenlooper uses a third party to manage his investments, according to Colorado Newsline. This practice has been done since he became mayor of Denver in 2003.
According to Quiver Quantitative, Hickenlooper is worth $31.2 million and has made $16.6 million worth of stock transactions since joining the Senate in 2021. This includes having more sales volume by dollars than buying volume in each year through 2025. In 2025, the senator bought $1.45 million in stock, while selling $2.33 million in stock.
Prior to the latest disclosure, Hickenlooper's filings for 2026 all have come within the 45-day STOCK Act deadline.
Photo: Shutterstock
Login to comment