AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $144.49 and last traded at $143.95, with a volume of 1945006 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $143.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on APP. UBS Group raised AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.44.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $100.41 and its 200-day moving average is $86.21. The firm has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.92.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 44.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 229,200 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.35, for a total value of $19,791,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,412,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,067,216.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other AppLovin news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 229,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.35, for a total transaction of $19,791,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,412,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,067,216.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,711.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,286,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at about $599,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,578,000. Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC now owns 796,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,754,000 after buying an additional 29,585 shares during the period. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 949,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,848,000 after buying an additional 486,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.