Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 21,787 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 104% compared to the average volume of 10,658 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. TheStreet upgraded AppLovin from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Monday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 147,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.29, for a total value of $12,177,603.36. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,264,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,037,930.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 147,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.29, for a total value of $12,177,603.36. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,264,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,037,930.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 47,001 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.06, for a total transaction of $3,997,905.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 390,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,225,711.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,738,887 shares of company stock worth $1,478,466,735. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Trust increased its holdings in AppLovin by 2.8% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 0.5% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 28,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in AppLovin by 13.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. raised its holdings in AppLovin by 1.8% in the first quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 9,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 85.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 511 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of APP stock traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.16. The company had a trading volume of 3,178,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,287,636. The company has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a PE ratio of 54.29, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.59, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.23. AppLovin has a one year low of $25.24 and a one year high of $91.91.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.70 million. AppLovin had a net margin of 16.46% and a return on equity of 51.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.