California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 438,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,035 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $142,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp increased its position in AppLovin by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,946,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,418,000 after buying an additional 449,241 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 457.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,893,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,888,000 after buying an additional 2,373,885 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $272.38 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.00, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. AppLovin Co. has a 1 year low of $60.67 and a 1 year high of $525.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $351.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.38.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.47.

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.