Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 20,106 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 67,369 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,106 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $21,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its position in AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 172.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APP has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.47.

AppLovin Stock Up 4.1 %

APP stock opened at $272.38 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $60.67 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.07. The company has a market cap of $92.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. On average, research analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

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.