Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 53 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APP. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in AppLovin by 37.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 996,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,158,000 after purchasing an additional 269,134 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group bought a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,799,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $284,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $833,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Price Performance

NASDAQ:APP opened at $350.65 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a 52 week low of $37.40 and a 52 week high of $417.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.60. The firm has a market cap of $117.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total value of $5,000,040.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,618,694.88. This represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on APP. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Benchmark restated a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America raised AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.71.

AppLovin 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.