AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• AppLovin received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from 23 analysts (18 buy, 5 hold) with an average 1‑year price target of $669.05.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $3.24 vs. $2.89 and delivering $1.66 billion in revenue (up 66% year‑over‑year) and a net margin of 57.4%.
• Significant insider selling occurred—CTO and CEO sold large blocks and insiders disposed of 365,244 shares worth about $169.6M in the past 90 days—while institutional ownership remains high at 41.85% after major stake increases by Vanguard, State Street and others.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $669.05.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered AppLovin from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AppLovin from $543.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 6th.

AppLovin Stock Up 6.7%

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $417.45 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $425.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.27. AppLovin has a 52-week low of $222.02 and a 52-week high of $745.61. The firm has a market cap of $140.80 billion, a PE ratio of 42.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 3.32.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. AppLovin's revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 62,804 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.43, for a total value of $30,549,749.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,255,273 shares in the company, valued at $1,583,462,445.39. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.04, for a total value of $23,302,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,480,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,155,972,140.56. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 365,244 shares of company stock worth $169,584,607 over the last ninety days. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 39.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,930,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051,663 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in AppLovin by 111.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,852,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,516,471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237,051 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 3,118.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,194,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,826,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,063,763 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,321,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,456,108,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin's technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin's offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.

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