AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 8% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) rose 8% during mid-day trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $335.00 to $435.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $358.67 and last traded at $354.87. Approximately 3,352,757 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 5,988,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at $328.54.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $350.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $386.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $433.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 19.6% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 22,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 3,649 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,193,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in AppLovin by 0.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 589,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in AppLovin by 11.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 215,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,998,000 after purchasing an additional 21,824 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Up 8.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $120.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.65.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

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.