AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Should You Sell?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price traded down 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $336.35 and last traded at $341.00. 625,385 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 4,601,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on APP shares. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America upgraded AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.01. The company has a market capitalization of $112.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly 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. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 405,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total value of $17,132,918.64. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,115,402.32. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in AppLovin by 4.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 2.2% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 50.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in AppLovin by 0.3% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,371,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in AppLovin by 2.6% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.