AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) shares rose 1.4% during trading on Tuesday after Arete Research upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. Arete Research now has a $340.00 price target on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $444.16 and last traded at $438.89. Approximately 5,181,385 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 6,715,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.98.

APP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on AppLovin from $860.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of AppLovin from $820.00 to $710.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $735.00 to $543.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total transaction of $5,000,102.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,097,294.30. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $693.32, for a total value of $103,998.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,829 shares in the company, valued at $1,961,402.28. This represents a 5.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AppLovin by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $527.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $572.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.01, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.51.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AppLovin Company Profile

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.