AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• AppLovin's stock surged 4% after Scotiabank upgraded its price target from $450 to $575 and maintained a sector outperform rating.
• Analysts show a mixed outlook with two "Strong Buy" ratings, eighteen "Buy" ratings, and an average price target of $478.81 for AppLovin's stock.
• Recent insider sales included a director selling 200,000 shares for approximately $92.9 million, representing a notable decline in their ownership stake.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4% during trading on Thursday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $575.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $480.78 and last traded at $481.58. 1,713,296 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 7,011,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.94.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $620.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $478.81.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.69, for a total transaction of $92,938,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 381,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $177,478,587.01. This trade represents a 34.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $58,250,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,283,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,394,014,072. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,236,152 shares of company stock valued at $545,240,378 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in AppLovin during the second quarter worth $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in AppLovin during the second quarter worth $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $381.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.92. The firm has a market cap of $164.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01.

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