AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 2.6% on Insider Selling

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares were down 2.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $312.51 and last traded at $318.76. Approximately 2,096,863 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 4,909,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.23.

Specifically, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on APP shares. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.29.

AppLovin Stock Performance

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’s fifty day moving average price is $366.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.26. The company has a market cap of $106.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APP. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 64.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares in the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AppLovin by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after buying an additional 428,419 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AppLovin by 2,200.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,297,000 after acquiring an additional 500,407 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in AppLovin by 328.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after acquiring an additional 81,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.