Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 61,152 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 947,642 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,152 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $306,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of APP. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in AppLovin by 172.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APP opened at $272.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $351.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.07. The stock has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.00, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. AppLovin Co. has a 1-year low of $60.67 and a 1-year high of $525.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on APP. Macquarie upped their price target on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.47.

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.