AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price rose 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $271.65 and last traded at $269.97. Approximately 1,977,921 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 5,487,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APP. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark increased their price objective on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.47.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $347.77 and a 200-day moving average of $286.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,957,885 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,144,000 after acquiring an additional 573,310 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,322,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by 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.