AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price shot up 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $288.88 and last traded at $286.07. 1,631,361 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 5,508,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $282.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price objective on AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.47.

AppLovin Stock Up 3.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $99.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.62, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $349.20 and a 200-day moving average of $286.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth $364,000. Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter valued at about $540,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 31.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,350,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,897,000 after buying an additional 560,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 264.5% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 14,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,903,000 after acquiring an additional 10,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% 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.