AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 1.8% - Still a Buy?

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $426.52 and last traded at $421.54. Approximately 1,404,648 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 6,084,317 shares. The stock had previously closed at $414.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on APP shares. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $350.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, HSBC set a $436.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $436.10.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $141.41 billion, a PE ratio of 92.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $311.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $332.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. AppLovin's quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 6,585 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.23, for a total value of $2,437,964.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 357,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $132,506,427.69. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,228,968 shares of company stock valued at $458,718,165 over the last three months. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AppLovin by 7.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company's stock worth $4,724,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,536 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 36.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company's stock worth $1,745,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,400 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $1,781,922,000. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in AppLovin by 29.0% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,486,000 after buying an additional 1,185,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company's stock.

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.