Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $306,000 in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ APP opened at $363.10 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a one year low of $40.71 and a one year high of $417.64. The firm has a market cap of $121.85 billion, a PE ratio of 110.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $337.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,670,155.40. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total value of $17,132,918.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,115,402.32. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 over the last 90 days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $315.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.41.

AppLovin 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.