AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $317.36 and last traded at $329.20. Approximately 3,918,558 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 4,750,255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APP has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $337.71.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $318.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.76. The firm has a market cap of $106.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

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

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,115,402.32. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Herald Y. Chen sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.16, for a total transaction of $146,464.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 207,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,032,757.84. This represents a 0.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in AppLovin by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in AppLovin by 2,200.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,297,000 after buying an additional 500,407 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in AppLovin by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,854,000 after buying an additional 81,331 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.