AppLovin Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 27,533 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical volume of 18,374 call options.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 154,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total transaction of $12,999,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,530,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $381,192,483.70. The trade was a 3.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,247 shares in the company, valued at $900,711.30. The trade was a 12.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 235,542 shares of company stock valued at $32,012,275 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of APP. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 4.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 0.3% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 33,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,371,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 2.6% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Macquarie boosted their target price on AppLovin from $150.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.31.

AppLovin Trading Up 2.3 %

AppLovin stock opened at $291.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.21, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.86. 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 has a 52 week low of $35.79 and a 52 week high of $302.55.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AppLovin will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.