Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 965,178 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,238 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $312,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in AppLovin by 622.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,030,462,000 after buying an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth about $414,462,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 10.5% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other 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 directly owns 372,205 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 406,947 shares of company stock worth $140,740,416 in the last three months. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on APP shares. Bank of America upped their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on shares of AppLovin and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective (up from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.29.

AppLovin Stock Down 2.8 %

AppLovin stock opened at $318.00 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $59.30 and a one year high of $525.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $366.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.30.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. As a group, equities analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 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.