AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 2% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares rose 2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $331.00 and last traded at $319.19. Approximately 1,579,738 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 4,605,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on APP shares. UBS Group raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Benchmark reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Stock Up 7.0 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $264.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.99. The company has a market cap of $114.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total value of $6,348,138.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total value of $32,620,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,688,365.50. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 872,896 shares of company stock worth $279,773,021 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 43.2% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 996,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,158,000 after acquiring an additional 269,134 shares in the last quarter. Castellan Group acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,799,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter worth approximately $284,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $833,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.