Creative Planning Grows Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Creative Planning boosted its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 251.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,883 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 103,628 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $18,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in AppLovin by 85.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price objective on AppLovin from $48.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on AppLovin from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.01.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of APP opened at $158.85 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28. AppLovin Co. has a 52-week low of $34.45 and a 52-week high of $159.81.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.12. AppLovin had a return on equity of 84.16% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $1,274,656.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 352,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,728,387.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AppLovin news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,711.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,728,387.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

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.