AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $270.48, but opened at $246.53. AppLovin shares last traded at $243.19, with a volume of 3,162,873 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on APP shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Stock Up 8.3 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $360.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.20. The firm has a market cap of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. 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 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, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total transaction of $5,000,040.97. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at $116,526,219.35. This trade represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total transaction of $32,620,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,688,365.50. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 404,371 shares of company stock worth $139,793,507. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 64.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter valued at $224,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in AppLovin by 2,200.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after buying an additional 500,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 328.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after buying an additional 81,331 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

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.