AppLovin’s (APP) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Benchmark in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $66.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential downside of 73.35% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted 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. Wedbush upgraded AppLovin to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on AppLovin from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.78.

AppLovin Price Performance

NASDAQ APP traded up $79.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $247.66. The stock had a trading volume of 9,466,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,162,167. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.51. 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 cap of $82.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.86. AppLovin has a 52-week low of $35.79 and a 52-week high of $257.43.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $4,826,772.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 254,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,262,490.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 254,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,262,490.54. This represents 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. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total transaction of $1,274,656.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at $31,728,387.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 610,094 shares of company stock worth $51,022,478 in the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in AppLovin during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.