Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,133 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $22,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 64.9% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after purchasing an additional 500,407 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 328.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 106,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 81,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Down 5.5 %

APP stock opened at $343.02 on Tuesday. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $40.71 and a 12 month high of $417.64. The firm has a market cap of $115.11 billion, a PE ratio of 103.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on APP. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AppLovin from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.29.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total value of $5,000,040.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,618,694.88. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.