AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 4% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) traded up 4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $355.00 to $400.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $412.95 and last traded at $414.39. 1,738,504 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 6,076,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.51.

APP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target (down previously from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price target on AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. FBN Securities assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 570 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.12, for a total value of $211,538.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,312,448.72. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,115,754 shares of company stock worth $411,165,970. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APP. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its holdings in AppLovin by 1,640.0% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $305.48 and a 200-day moving average of $330.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.74, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

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