AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 1% Higher – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was up 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $349.92 and last traded at $334.45. Approximately 5,536,527 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 6,247,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $331.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APP. Daiwa America upgraded AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.29.

AppLovin Stock Down 3.2 %

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 has a market capitalization of $107.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $368.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.75.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total value of $6,348,138.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,372 shares of company stock worth $92,519,099 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APP. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 64.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after buying an additional 500,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in AppLovin by 328.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.