AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 6.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• AppLovin's stock price increased by 6.8% after Wedbush raised their price target from $725.00 to $745.00, maintaining an outperform rating.
• Other brokerages, including Bank of America and Citigroup, have also upgraded their ratings to "buy," reflecting strong investor interest and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider selling activity has been noted, with CEO Arash Adam Foroughi selling over 26,200 shares, indicating potential profit-taking after a rise in stock price.

Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) rose 6.8% on Tuesday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $725.00 to $745.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $636.99 and last traded at $627.10. Approximately 5,086,416 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 7,459,089 shares. The stock had previously closed at $587.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on APP. 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 note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded AppLovin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on AppLovin from $600.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AppLovin from $480.00 to $491.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $579.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 26,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.23, for a total transaction of $11,534,026.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,590,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,140,219,472.42. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 269,955 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,579,499.65. This trade represents a 11.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,156,788 shares of company stock valued at $514,863,333 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01. The firm has a market cap of $217.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 2.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $518.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $393.96.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 252.67% and a net margin of 45.72%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 77.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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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