AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Downgraded by Weiss Ratings to Hold (C+)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has downgraded AppLovin from a "buy (B-)" to a "hold (C+)" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment toward the company's stock.
• Despite the downgrade, several analysts maintain positive outlooks, with Bank of America raising its target price on AppLovin from $580 to $860 and issuing a "buy" rating.
• AppLovin reported earnings of $2.26 per share, exceeding expectations, but its revenue fell short of analysts' estimates, highlighting mixed performance in its latest quarter.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Weiss Ratings from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America raised their target price on AppLovin from $580.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen cut AppLovin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research cut AppLovin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AppLovin from $480.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $605.13.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP traded up $30.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $620.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,967,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,303,170. AppLovin has a 12 month low of $158.33 and a 12 month high of $745.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The stock has a market cap of $209.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.07, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 2.53. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $565.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $420.20.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.21. AppLovin had a return on equity of 252.67% and a net margin of 45.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 77.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 125,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.00, for a total value of $58,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,283,292 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,014,072. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 35,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.23, for a total value of $17,578,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 269,955 shares in the company, valued at $135,579,499.65. The trade was a 11.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,156,788 shares of company stock worth $514,863,333. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter worth $951,541,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 117,664.4% in the first quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,702,694 shares of the company's stock worth $716,133,000 after buying an additional 2,700,399 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 36.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company's stock worth $1,745,752,000 after buying an additional 1,769,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 7.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company's stock worth $4,724,594,000 after buying an additional 1,213,536 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 29.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,486,000 after buying an additional 1,185,859 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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