AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shot up 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $242.68 and last traded at $239.97. 2,260,269 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 5,757,778 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APP. UBS Group decreased their target price on AppLovin from $630.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $575.00 to $425.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, FBN Securities initiated coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.84.

AppLovin Stock Performance

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 moving average price is $318.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.53. The stock has a market cap of $78.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 value of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 over the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth about $828,138,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 457.2% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,893,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,885 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.