Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,652,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $535,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.49% of AppLovin as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 60,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $474,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 37,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,101,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,108 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total transaction of $597,309.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,058,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,090,066,927.65. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.27, for a total transaction of $203,135.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,715,508.68. This trade represents a 6.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 406,947 shares of company stock worth $140,740,416. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AppLovin Stock Down 2.8 %

APP stock opened at $318.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $366.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.26. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $59.30 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The company has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AppLovin Profile

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.