AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $168.55, but opened at $230.00. Daiwa Capital Markets now has a $280.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00. AppLovin shares last traded at $249.29, with a volume of 5,208,085 shares traded.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $185.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.31.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $4,826,772.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 254,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,262,490.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AppLovin news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total value of $4,826,772.45. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 254,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,262,490.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total transaction of $1,274,656.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at $31,728,387.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 610,094 shares of company stock worth $51,022,478 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in AppLovin by 9,470.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 250,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,336,000 after acquiring an additional 248,022 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 2,081.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 16,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after acquiring an additional 15,590 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 167.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 10,099 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 73.0% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 893,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,344,000 after acquiring an additional 376,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter valued at $7,086,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Up 17.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $96.94 billion, a PE ratio of 112.00, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $135.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.