AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $354.93, but opened at $345.68. AppLovin shares last traded at $337.05, with a volume of 721,394 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on APP shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Benchmark reissued a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.18.

AppLovin Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm has a market cap of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 99.76, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.04.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total value of $17,132,918.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,115,402.32. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,919,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,618,694.88. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in AppLovin by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 8,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,237,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in AppLovin by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $963,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 16,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,430,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.