Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,084,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 87,961 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of AppLovin worth $351,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APP. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after acquiring an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 328.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in AppLovin by 38.8% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 7,039 shares during the period. Finally, Oxinas Partners Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,081,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APP. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 target price on AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.47.

AppLovin Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of APP stock opened at $264.97 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.50. AppLovin Co. has a 52 week low of $60.67 and a 52 week high of $525.15. The stock has a market cap of $90.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.36, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. Analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

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.