LPL Financial LLC Has $68.18 Million Stock Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,530 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $68,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APP. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801,138 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth about $535,070,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $414,462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $327.62 on Thursday. AppLovin Co. has a 52-week low of $60.67 and a 52-week high of $525.15. The stock has a market cap of $111.38 billion, a PE ratio of 72.16, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $354.67 and a 200-day moving average of $280.55. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on APP shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie increased their price objective on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price (up from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.