Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $4,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APP. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in AppLovin by 64.9% during the third 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. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after acquiring an additional 500,407 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 acquiring an additional 81,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 38.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value 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. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $438.28.

AppLovin Stock Up 6.5 %

APP stock opened at $297.03 on Thursday. AppLovin Co. has a 52-week low of $60.67 and a 52-week high of $525.15. 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 has a market capitalization of $100.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $354.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.20.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

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.