AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Daiwa America

Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

APP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Loop Capital assumed coverage on AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $181.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on AppLovin from $185.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.31.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP opened at $286.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $143.14 and its 200-day moving average is $103.05. AppLovin has a fifty-two week low of $35.79 and a fifty-two week high of $292.86. The company has a market capitalization of $95.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AppLovin will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.71, for a total value of $6,052,735.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,092,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,418,853.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 154,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total transaction of $12,999,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,530,455 shares in the company, valued at $381,192,483.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.71, for a total value of $6,052,735.26. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,092,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,418,853.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,172 shares of company stock valued at $40,723,512 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter valued at $251,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in AppLovin by 29.6% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in AppLovin by 89.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 681 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 2.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 8,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $224,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.