AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price shot up 0.7% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $344.09 and last traded at $340.25. 929,275 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,593,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on APP. UBS Group upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.40.

AppLovin Price Performance

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $253.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $204,688,365.50. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.27, for a total value of $203,135.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,684 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,508.68. This trade represents a 6.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 872,896 shares of company stock worth $279,773,021. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 426.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 17,067 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the second quarter valued at about $150,000. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin during the 2nd quarter worth about $417,000. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter valued at $12,433,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in AppLovin by 13.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 964,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,230,000 after acquiring an additional 111,718 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.