Daiwa Capital Markets Upgrades AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) to Outperform

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) was upgraded by analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $280.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00. Daiwa Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential downside of 3.45% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on AppLovin from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Loop Capital started coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $181.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.31.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $290.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The company has a market cap of $96.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.86. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $35.79 and a 1-year high of $292.86.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,711.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $5,472,193.76. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,164,396 shares in the company, valued at $88,121,489.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,711.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 167.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 10,099 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $623,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at about $1,235,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 33.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 93.4% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 25,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 12,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.