AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 7.6% – Time to Sell?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) fell 7.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $596.76 and last traded at $617.76. 8,381,699 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 91% from the average session volume of 4,393,901 shares. The stock had previously closed at $668.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on APP shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Oppenheimer set a $740.00 price target on AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $835.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.76.

AppLovin Stock Down 7.6%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $640.73 and its 200 day moving average is $549.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The company has a market cap of $208.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 2.50.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 258.49% and a net margin of 51.27%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 68.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total value of $5,000,102.17. Following the transaction, the insider owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at $182,097,294.30. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total transaction of $14,803,249.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 3,323,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,812,669,143.78. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 340,336 shares of company stock worth $200,062,623 in the last three months. 13.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the second quarter worth $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in AppLovin by 760.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Company Profile

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.