AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 7.5% on Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) rose 7.5% during trading on Friday after Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Daiwa Capital Markets now has a $280.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00. AppLovin traded as high as $265.95 and last traded at $264.94. Approximately 1,939,460 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 4,196,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $246.53.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on APP. UBS Group upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $185.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,711.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $1,274,656.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,728,387.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,247 shares in the company, valued at $900,711.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of APP. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter worth $290,655,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at about $195,129,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 185.0% in the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,305,000 after buying an additional 2,525,240 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 977.2% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 acquiring an additional 1,029,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Up 17.6 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27. The company has a market capitalization of $96.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.86.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.12. AppLovin had a return on equity of 84.16% and a net margin of 20.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 3.48 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.