Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys New Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $402,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in AppLovin by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 544,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,261,000 after buying an additional 45,767 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 454.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 75,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,330,000 after acquiring an additional 61,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth about $468,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $375.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. AppLovin Co. has a 1-year low of $45.12 and a 1-year high of $417.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $346.12 and a 200-day moving average of $217.34. The company has a market capitalization of $126.09 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.30.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total value of $189,574,199.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,618,694.88. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total value of $6,348,138.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 405,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,670,155.40. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark started coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $375.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.29.

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.