AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $354.93, but opened at $345.68. AppLovin shares last traded at $337.05, with a volume of 721,394 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.18.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $312.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a PE ratio of 99.76, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.94, for a total transaction of $5,740,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,673.78. The trade was a 85.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 over the last quarter. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in AppLovin by 6.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 77.2% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 98.6% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 3,547 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AppLovin by 21.1% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 19,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 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.