Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $21.37 Million Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $21,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in AppLovin by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APP. Loop Capital increased their price target on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Stock Down 0.9 %

APP stock opened at $341.83 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $276.61 and a 200-day moving average of $158.94. AppLovin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.40 and a fifty-two week high of $417.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. 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 results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.27, for a total value of $203,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,715,508.68. This trade represents a 6.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at $143,670,155.40. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock valued at $284,773,062. Corporate insiders own 14.69% 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.