Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 23,237 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 87% compared to the average volume of 12,419 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.04, for a total transaction of $473,220.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,536,447 shares in the company, valued at $390,315,899.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $1,274,656.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,728,387.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 5,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.04, for a total transaction of $473,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,536,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,315,899.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 774,434 shares of company stock worth $65,673,172 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APP. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $497,488,000. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $290,655,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $195,129,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 185.0% in the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,305,000 after buying an additional 2,525,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 977.2% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,522,000 after buying an additional 1,357,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ APP opened at $97.57 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27. The company has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.88. AppLovin has a 12-month low of $34.45 and a 12-month high of $98.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.55.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APP. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $48.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $100.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94.

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.