Primecap Management Co. CA Makes New $112.73 Million Investment in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 348,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $112,725,000. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.10% of AppLovin at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APP. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 78.4% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 172.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on APP. Benchmark upped their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target (up from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital increased their price target on AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $278.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $355.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. AppLovin Co. has a one year low of $60.67 and a one year high of $525.15.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 322,871 shares of company stock worth $111,401,882 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.