AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 3.4% – Time to Sell?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price traded down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $321.01 and last traded at $324.11. 844,320 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 4,573,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $100.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.71.

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 has a market cap of $108.68 billion, a PE ratio of 98.14, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $288.01 and its 200 day moving average is $165.04.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,618,694.88. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total value of $32,620,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,462,000 after acquiring an additional 6,801,138 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth $290,655,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in AppLovin by 977.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,400 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 10.5% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,307,000 after buying an additional 1,029,009 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,350,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,897,000 after buying an additional 560,560 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.