Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,084,957 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,961 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $351,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 64.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after buying an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in AppLovin by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,854,000 after buying an additional 81,331 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in AppLovin by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,286,000 after acquiring an additional 7,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxinas Partners Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,081,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP opened at $264.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $350.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.50. AppLovin Co. has a 1-year low of $60.67 and a 1-year high of $525.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.08 billion, a PE ratio of 58.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APP. Macquarie increased their price objective on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.47.

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.