Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 155,776 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,592 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $6,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 143.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 116,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,672,000 after purchasing an additional 68,822 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 4,805.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,402,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374,066 shares in the last quarter. Black Swift Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $999,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 8.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,099,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 83.2% in the third quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 923,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,692,000 after purchasing an additional 419,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Monday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. TheStreet upgraded AppLovin from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $67.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total value of $3,750,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,371,715.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 2,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.30, for a total value of $175,657.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 362,264 shares in the company, valued at $22,931,311.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total transaction of $3,750,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,371,715.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,215 shares of company stock valued at $4,416,815. Insiders own 12.43% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of APP opened at $66.80 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $15.41 and a 12 month high of $79.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 66.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.90.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. AppLovin had a return on equity of 24.69% and a net margin of 10.84%. The business had revenue of $953.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.21) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 2.47 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.