AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 4.8% – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares rose 4.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $286.91 and last traded at $274.31. Approximately 7,684,063 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 5,368,089 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on APP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fifteen 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.47.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $351.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a PE ratio of 60.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in AppLovin by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,957,885 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,144,000 after purchasing an additional 573,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.