AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) rose 1.4% during trading on Tuesday after Arete Research upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a neutral rating. Arete Research now has a $340.00 price target on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $444.16 and last traded at $438.89. Approximately 5,181,385 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 6,715,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.98.

Several other brokerages have also commented on APP. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on AppLovin from $860.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on AppLovin from $735.00 to $543.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of AppLovin from $820.00 to $710.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $658.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total value of $5,000,102.17. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,097,294.30. This represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 150 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $693.32, for a total transaction of $103,998.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,961,402.28. The trade was a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth $2,514,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 73.5% in the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 76,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 32,510 shares during the last quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 114.8% in the third quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 16,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,001,000 after buying an additional 8,925 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in AppLovin by 14.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,160,000 after acquiring an additional 15,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in AppLovin by 118.0% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 10,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,573,000 after acquiring an additional 5,705 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $148.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.01, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 3.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $533.45 and its 200-day moving average is $572.35.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About AppLovin

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.