AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 1.4% – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price was up 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $348.55 and last traded at $344.51. Approximately 2,428,000 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 7,602,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $339.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on APP. Benchmark boosted their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $354.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $88.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.