Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Purchases Shares of 35,241 AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 35,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,118,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APP. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in AppLovin by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $552,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth about $1,208,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,358,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AppLovin Trading Up 4.2 %

AppLovin stock opened at $270.48 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a one year low of $59.30 and a one year high of $525.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $363.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.76. The company has a market capitalization of $90.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.58, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were 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 approximately $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total value of $5,000,040.97. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. This trade represents a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 406,447 shares of company stock worth $140,537,281 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price (up previously from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark lifted their price target on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price objective on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.29.

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.