AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Arete Research

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) was upgraded by research analysts at Arete Research to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

APP has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.29.

AppLovin Stock Up 4.2 %

AppLovin stock opened at $270.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $365.13 and its 200-day moving average is $259.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a PE ratio of 59.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. AppLovin has a fifty-two week low of $59.30 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total transaction of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,058,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,066,927.65. The trade was a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 406,447 shares of company stock valued at $140,537,281 over the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth $25,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its position in AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation engages in building a software-based platform for advertisers to enhance the marketing and monetization of their content in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Software Platform and Apps. The company's software solutions include AppDiscovery, a marketing software solution, which matches advertiser demand with publisher supply through auctions; MAX, an in-app bidding software that optimizes the value of a publisher's advertising inventory by running a real-time competitive auction; Adjust, a measurement and analytics marketing platform that provides marketers with the visibility, insights, and tools needed to grow their apps from early stage to maturity; and Wurl, a connected TV platform, which distributes streaming video for content companies and provides advertising and publishing solutions through its AdPool, ContentDiscovery, and Global FAST Pass products.