National Pension Service Trims Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

National Pension Service lessened its position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 443,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,500 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.13% of AppLovin worth $143,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APP. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in AppLovin by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in AppLovin by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,070,000 after buying an additional 20,543 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in AppLovin by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 17,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,706,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in AppLovin by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,032,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,294,000 after buying an additional 30,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. increased its position in AppLovin by 220.3% in the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 7,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 5,143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $331.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $368.06 and a 200 day moving average of $250.75. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $57.40 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The firm has a market cap of $111.08 billion, a PE ratio of 72.91, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. On average, research analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CFO Herald Y. Chen sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.16, for a total transaction of $146,464.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 207,649 shares in the company, valued at $76,032,757.84. This represents a 0.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 44,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.89, for a total value of $18,243,516.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,869,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,179,045,567.88. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 255,372 shares of company stock worth $92,519,099 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Daiwa America raised AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $442.18.

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.