AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $257.76, but opened at $285.00. AppLovin shares last traded at $272.64, with a volume of 3,096,620 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Macquarie raised their target price on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target (up previously from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $94.46 billion, a PE ratio of 61.24, 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 quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $360.57 and its 200 day moving average is $265.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 44,400 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.89, for a total value of $18,243,516.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,869,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,179,045,567.88. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,371 shares of company stock valued at $139,793,507 over the last three months. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $889,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $69,003,000. Finally, Brucke Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $263,000. 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.