AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 1.8% – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) rose 1.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $336.56 and last traded at $329.50. Approximately 1,613,270 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 4,582,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $110.34 billion, a PE ratio of 99.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. 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’s fifty day moving average is $294.60 and its 200-day moving average is $167.87.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.27, for a total value of $203,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,684 shares in the company, valued at $2,715,508.68. This trade represents a 6.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 10.5% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 7.2% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,557,000 after buying an additional 382,767 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after buying an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 449,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.