AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 4.4% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• AppLovin's stock rose by 4.4% during mid-day trading, reaching a high of $591.31 before settling at $589.70.
• Recent analyst reports show a mixed outlook: Citigroup raised its price target to $850 and assigned a "buy" rating, while Wall Street Zen shifted to a "hold" rating.
• AppLovin reported earnings of $2.26 per share, beating estimates, with a revenue increase of 77.1% year-over-year, though it fell short of expectations with $1.26 billion in revenue.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $591.31 and last traded at $589.70. 3,185,003 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 7,320,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $564.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $600.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AppLovin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $705.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $580.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $605.13.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $199.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $562.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $417.74.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.21. AppLovin had a net margin of 45.72% and a return on equity of 252.67%. The company 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 company's revenue was up 77.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.57, for a total transaction of $13,127,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,360,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,470,280,707.28. The trade was a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,156,788 shares of company stock valued at $514,863,333. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 65.7% during the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 58 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in AppLovin in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in AppLovin in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust bought a new stake in AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AppLovin Company Profile

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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