AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 7.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) rose 7.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Daiwa America upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $265.95 and last traded at $264.94. Approximately 1,939,460 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 4,196,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $246.53.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on APP. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AppLovin from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Macquarie raised their target price on AppLovin from $150.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $185.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,711.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AppLovin news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $4,826,772.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 254,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,262,490.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 10,247 shares in the company, valued at $900,711.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AppLovin by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,009 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,557,000 after buying an additional 382,767 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 185.0% during the first quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,305,000 after buying an additional 2,525,240 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter valued at approximately $290,655,000. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Up 17.6 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27. The stock has a market cap of $96.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.86.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.06% and a net margin of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.