AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on APP. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, FBN Securities assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $438.85.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $336.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $349.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.90. AppLovin has a 52 week low of $60.67 and a 52 week high of $525.15. The stock has a market cap of $113.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.65, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 2.42.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a net margin of 37.38% and a return on equity of 224.65%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 513 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.30, for a total transaction of $215,613.90. Following the sale, the director owned 3,451 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,455.30. This trade represents a 12.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Barbara Messing sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.46, for a total transaction of $573,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 9,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,637,194.60. This trade represents a 13.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,212,968 shares of company stock valued at $455,062,980. 13.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% 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.