AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Argus

Key Points

• Argus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $520 price target (about a 24.6% upside), while the analyst community overall shows 19 Buys and 5 Holds with an average target of $661.95.
• AppLovin beat expectations last quarter—EPS $3.24 vs. $2.89 and revenue $1.66B (up 66% YoY)—but significant insider selling (365,244 shares worth roughly $170M in the last 90 days) could pressure sentiment.

Investment analysts at Argus started coverage on shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $520.00 price target on the stock. Argus' target price would indicate a potential upside of 24.57% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on APP. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $740.00 to $660.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AppLovin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $771.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $720.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $543.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $661.95.

AppLovin Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $417.45 on Tuesday. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $222.02 and a 1-year high of $745.61. The company 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 current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $425.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $552.27.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a net margin of 57.42% and a return on equity of 245.64%. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 50,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $23,302,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,480,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,972,140.56. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 62,804 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.43, for a total transaction of $30,549,749.72. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 3,255,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,583,462,445.39. This represents a 1.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 365,244 shares of company stock worth $169,584,607. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,120,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,926,746,000 after purchasing an additional 166,117 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,904,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,021,721,000 after purchasing an additional 52,377 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,167,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,817,269,000 after purchasing an additional 448,005 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,089,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,103,386,000 after purchasing an additional 212,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,561,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,747,551,000 after purchasing an additional 538,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.