AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Raised to Strong-Buy at Scotiabank

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) was upgraded by analysts at Scotiabank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on APP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AppLovin from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. HSBC set a $436.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.43.

AppLovin Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of APP opened at $352.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $356.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $334.37. AppLovin has a 12 month low of $60.67 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The company has a market capitalization of $119.36 billion, a PE ratio of 63.67, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 224.65% and a net margin of 37.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 171,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.77, for a total transaction of $64,071,653.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 221,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,681,287.93. This trade represents a 43.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 34,766 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total transaction of $12,294,648.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 70,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,069,185.96. The trade was a 32.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,212,968 shares of company stock valued at $455,062,980 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 7.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,724,594,000 after buying an additional 1,213,536 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,957,885 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in AppLovin by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,745,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769,400 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 29.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AppLovin by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,144,000 after purchasing an additional 573,310 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by 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.