AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 5.4% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price traded down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $308.20 and last traded at $311.31. 1,601,542 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 4,199,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital lifted their target price on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.71.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $106.55 billion, a PE ratio of 96.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $315.31 and a 200-day moving average of $178.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released 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. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. 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 firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AppLovin news, CFO Herald Y. Chen sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.16, for a total value of $146,464.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 207,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,032,757.84. This trade represents a 0.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 405,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $1,382,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,009 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,557,000 after buying an additional 382,767 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after buying an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AppLovin by 12.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.