AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 5.2% – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares were up 5.2% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $339.39 and last traded at $335.19. Approximately 1,774,696 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,609,092 shares. The stock had previously closed at $318.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AppLovin from $250.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark restated a “sell” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.71.

AppLovin Trading Up 7.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $114.43 billion, a PE ratio of 103.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $264.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.99.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 405,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,670,155.40. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total transaction of $17,132,918.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,115,402.32. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 872,896 shares of company stock worth $279,773,021. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,009 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,462,000 after buying an additional 6,801,138 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 7.2% in the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,557,000 after acquiring an additional 382,767 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after acquiring an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,946,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,418,000 after acquiring an additional 449,241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.