AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,490,000 shares, a decrease of 30.6% from the December 31st total of 18,000,000 shares. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,720,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total value of $189,574,199.56. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,618,694.88. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total transaction of $17,132,918.64. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,115,402.32. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in AppLovin by 172.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APP traded up $4.08 on Friday, hitting $369.59. 3,352,935 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,733,983. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $341.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.00, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. AppLovin has a one year low of $40.71 and a one year high of $417.64.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AppLovin will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.29.

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.