AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Should You Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $346.61 and last traded at $342.24. 1,452,683 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 3,868,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APP. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Benchmark assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $375.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research boosted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Four investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.06.

AppLovin Trading Up 3.6 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $329.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.54. The stock has a market cap of $115.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.25, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

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

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total transaction of $32,620,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,688,365.50. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total value of $5,000,040.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 98.6% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the second quarter worth about $33,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 80.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 232,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,338,000 after purchasing an additional 103,335 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AppLovin by 695.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 549,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,725,000 after buying an additional 480,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 186,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,512,000 after buying an additional 5,483 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.