AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 4% – Here’s What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares dropped 4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $326.00 and last traded at $332.57. Approximately 2,711,063 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 5,267,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price (up previously from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.21. The company has a market capitalization of $110.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.83, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. Analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 328.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 7,039 shares during the period. Finally, Oxinas Partners Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth about $1,081,000. 41.85% of the stock is 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.