Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $15.27 Million Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,381 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $15,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in AppLovin by 64.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after buying an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after acquiring an additional 500,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in AppLovin by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on APP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AppLovin from $360.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital upped their price target on AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $442.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at $143,670,155.40. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Margaret Hasti Georgiadis sold 30,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.69, for a total transaction of $10,360,545.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 154,500 shares in the company, valued at $52,482,105. The trade was a 16.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,372 shares of company stock valued at $92,519,099 over the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AppLovin Price Performance

APP stock opened at $410.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $366.92 and a 200-day moving average of $248.07. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $57.40 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.