AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price shot up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $339.39 and last traded at $335.19. 1,774,696 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 4,609,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research upped their target price on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Stock Up 7.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $114.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.99.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total value of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,058,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,090,066,927.65. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total transaction of $32,620,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,688,365.50. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 872,896 shares of company stock valued at $279,773,021 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in AppLovin in the third quarter worth $224,000. 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 last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,297,000 after acquiring an additional 500,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

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.