UBS Group Upgrades AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) to Buy

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) was upgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $145.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $100.00. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.73% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on APP. Benchmark lifted their target price on AppLovin from $48.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on AppLovin from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.71.

AppLovin Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $116.25 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.78. The firm has a market cap of $38.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.88. AppLovin has a fifty-two week low of $34.45 and a fifty-two week high of $116.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 44.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 118,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $10,784,639.25. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,641,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $693,468,938.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $5,472,193.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,164,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,121,489.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 118,839 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $10,784,639.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,641,531 shares in the company, valued at $693,468,938.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 775,934 shares of company stock worth $65,805,022 in the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin in the first quarter valued at about $497,488,000. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $290,655,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 1st quarter worth approximately $195,129,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in AppLovin by 185.0% during the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in AppLovin by 977.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.