AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $336.35 and last traded at $341.00. Approximately 625,385 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 4,601,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $341.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APP has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America raised shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.57, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. 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 (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for 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%. AppLovin’s revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total transaction of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,058,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,090,066,927.65. This trade represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,526,219.35. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 622.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after acquiring an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter valued at $290,655,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 977.2% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,400 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 10.5% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,009 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 31.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,350,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,897,000 after purchasing an additional 560,560 shares in 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.