AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,390,000 shares, a decline of 12.1% from the January 31st total of 14,100,000 shares. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective (up previously from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total transaction of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,058,635 shares in the company, valued at $1,090,066,927.65. The trade was a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 406,447 shares of company stock valued at $140,537,281. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APP. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Trading Down 18.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APP opened at $259.63 on Friday. AppLovin has a 52 week low of $59.30 and a 52 week high of $525.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $365.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.26. 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 company has a market cap of $87.13 billion, a PE ratio of 57.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. Equities analysts predict that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.