AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 5.5% Higher – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares rose 5.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $342.36 and last traded at $338.60. Approximately 1,592,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 4,055,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $321.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AppLovin from $360.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $338.06.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $324.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a PE ratio of 102.16, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total value of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,058,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,066,927.65. The trade was a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total transaction of $17,132,918.64. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares in the company, valued at $291,115,402.32. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter valued at $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.