AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 8% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares traded up 8% during trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $335.00 to $435.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $358.67 and last traded at $354.87. 3,352,757 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 5,988,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at $328.54.

APP has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AppLovin from $350.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Arete Research set a $200.00 target price on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AppLovin from $270.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $433.85.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $278.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $125.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.