Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 290,719 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 37.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 475,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 290,719 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $159,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth about $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp raised its position in AppLovin by 8.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after acquiring an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 12.8% during 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. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 457.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,893,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,885 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $272.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.38. AppLovin Co. has a twelve month low of $60.67 and a twelve month high of $525.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on APP. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark increased their price target on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on shares of AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.