AppLovin’s (APP) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on APP. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APP opened at $297.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $100.98 billion, a PE ratio of 65.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.20. AppLovin has a one year low of $60.67 and a one year high of $525.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AppLovin will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.