AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 4.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) traded up 4.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $286.91 and last traded at $274.31. 7,684,063 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average session volume of 5,368,089 shares. The stock had previously closed at $261.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. FBN Securities initiated coverage on AppLovin in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.47.

AppLovin Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.00, a P/E/G 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.07.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 in the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at $828,138,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 457.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,893,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,885 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Company 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.