Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Cuts Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC reduced its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 91.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,490 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the third quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the second quarter valued at $33,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on APP. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Benchmark reissued a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.18.

AppLovin Price Performance

APP opened at $329.20 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a 1 year low of $38.60 and a 1 year high of $417.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $315.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 99.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total value of $6,348,138.75. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total transaction of $32,620,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,688,365.50. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last three months. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.