AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wedbush upgraded AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $470.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $447.57.

AppLovin Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $364.14 on Friday. AppLovin has a fifty-two week low of $60.67 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $123.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $362.09 and a 200 day moving average of $335.79.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a return on equity of 224.65% and a net margin of 37.38%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.51, for a total transaction of $36,751,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,760,363 shares in the company, valued at $1,014,461,006.13. This represents a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.61, for a total transaction of $149,844,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 221,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,867,103.49. This trade represents a 64.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,212,968 shares of company stock valued at $455,062,980. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 5.1% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the company's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 172,378 shares of the company's stock worth $45,675,000 after purchasing an additional 66,453 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 3,544 shares of the company's stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at about $969,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is 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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