AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Down 4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) dropped 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock 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

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.47.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.00, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $353.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.42.

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 return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. Analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in AppLovin by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,144,000 after purchasing an additional 573,310 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.