Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 12,426 Shares of AppLovin Corporation $APP

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors increased its AppLovin stake by 59% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,426 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 33,471 shares worth about $22.6 million.
• AppLovin reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.56 beating estimates and revenue of $1.84 billion topping forecasts, while revenue jumped 58.9% year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, including CEO Arash Adam Foroughi’s recent sale of 33,042 shares, and insiders have sold 389,924 shares over the last 90 days.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 59.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,471 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,426 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in AppLovin were worth $22,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,930,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051,663 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 111.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,852,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,516,471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237,051 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,040,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at about $743,899,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,374,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,706,144,000 after purchasing an additional 756,660 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Stock Up 3.8%

AppLovin stock opened at $496.77 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $482.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $520.84. AppLovin Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $320.00 and a fifty-two week high of $745.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. AppLovin's quarterly revenue was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 33,042 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.95, for a total transaction of $16,089,801.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,153,755,469.45. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 20,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.89, for a total transaction of $11,317,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 243,961 shares in the company, valued at $138,055,090.29. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 389,924 shares of company stock worth $187,404,946 over the last ninety days. 13.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Negative Sentiment: CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold additional AppLovin shares on June 10, 11, and 12, including several transactions worth millions of dollars, which may pressure investor confidence in the near term. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary from analysts and financial media remained constructive overall, with one piece arguing AppLovin’s selloff looks detached from fundamentals and highlighting strong Q1 revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow growth. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, coverage noted that brokers still generally view AppLovin as an attractive stock, though these recommendations are often considered lagging indicators and may not move the shares much on their own. Article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday. Argus assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $520.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of AppLovin from $740.00 to $716.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $669.62.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin's technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin's offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.

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