Caxton Associates LP Boosts Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Caxton Associates LP lifted its position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 97.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,137 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $497,488,000. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $165,057,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $195,129,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,298,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,605,000 after buying an additional 686,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 48.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,545,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,003,000 after purchasing an additional 503,998 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AppLovin news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 147,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.29, for a total value of $12,177,603.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,264,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,037,930.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Kkr Group Partnership L.P. sold 17,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total transaction of $1,458,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 366,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,557,025.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 147,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.29, for a total value of $12,177,603.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,264,284 shares in the company, valued at $104,037,930.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,857,726 shares of company stock worth $1,489,251,374. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $85.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Monday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $73.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.72.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ APP traded down $1.75 on Tuesday, reaching $75.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,281,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,083,849. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.59. AppLovin Co. has a 12-month low of $28.99 and a 12-month high of $91.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.59, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.70 million. AppLovin had a return on equity of 51.55% and a net margin of 16.46%. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.