AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• AppLovin's shares reached a new 52-week high of $590.70 after Benchmark upgraded its price target from $525.00 to $640.00 and maintained a buy rating.
• The company reported a net margin of 45.72% and earnings per share of $2.26, surpassing analyst expectations despite a revenue of $1.26 billion against an estimate of $1.37 billion.
• Insider trading saw CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sell 26,200 shares for over $11 million, while institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in the company.

Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $525.00 to $640.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $590.70 and last traded at $586.37, with a volume of 1284517 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $582.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on APP. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered AppLovin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research raised AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AppLovin from $480.00 to $491.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on AppLovin from $547.00 to $664.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $501.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 26,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.23, for a total transaction of $11,534,026.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,590,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,140,219,472.42. The trade was a 1.00% 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 the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.23, for a total transaction of $17,578,050.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 269,955 shares in the company, valued at $135,579,499.65. The trade was a 11.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,156,788 shares of company stock worth $514,863,333. 13.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

AppLovin Trading Up 0.6%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $424.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.12 billion, a PE ratio of 83.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 2.44.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 45.72% and a return on equity of 252.67%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 77.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 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.

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