AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 7.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• AppLovin's stock price increased by 7.6% following an upgrade by Wedbush, which raised its price target from $725.00 to $745.00.
• Analysts have shown strong confidence in AppLovin, with twenty buy ratings, two strong buy ratings, and a consensus price target of $579.81.
• Insider sales included the selling of 200,000 shares by Director Herald Y. Chen, reducing his ownership by 52.37% following a sale of stocks valued at approximately $86 million.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 7.6% 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 $644.47 and last traded at $631.85. 11,744,298 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 57% from the average session volume of 7,497,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $587.00.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on APP. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $540.00 to $810.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on AppLovin from $560.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Benchmark lifted their target price on AppLovin from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of AppLovin to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $579.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.49, for a total transaction of $86,498,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 181,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,682,473.21. The trade was a 52.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,283,292 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,394,014,072. This trade represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,156,788 shares of company stock valued at $514,863,333 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the second quarter valued at about $951,541,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 117,664.4% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in AppLovin by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company's stock worth $1,745,752,000 after buying an additional 1,769,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 7.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company's stock worth $4,724,594,000 after buying an additional 1,213,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 29.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,396,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185,859 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $518.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $393.96. The firm has a market cap of $213.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 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.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business's revenue was up 77.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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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