Arizona State Retirement System Trims Holdings in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in AppLovin by 3.4% in Q4 to 65,104 shares (worth about $43.9M), and institutional investors now own roughly 41.85% of the stock.
• Company insiders have been heavy sellers recently — including a 163,910‑share sale by a director — with insiders disposing of 365,244 shares worth $169.6M in the last 90 days, though insiders still hold 13.66%.
• Analysts show a generally positive view with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $673.25, while the stock trades near $454 (down 6.1%); AppLovin also reported a strong quarter (EPS $3.24, revenue up 66% YoY).

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,104 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,290 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in AppLovin were worth $43,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in AppLovin by 760.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 58.6% during the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 46 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 48 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on APP shares. Arete Research set a $340.00 price target on shares of AppLovin and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $543.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $673.25.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 5,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.47, for a total transaction of $2,497,645.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 30,658 shares in the company, valued at $14,638,275.26. This represents a 14.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.49, for a total value of $74,331,545.90. Following the sale, the director owned 6,969,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,160,545,043.18. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 365,244 shares of company stock worth $169,584,607 in the last ninety days. 13.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AppLovin News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus Research initiated a Buy on APP with a $520 price target, calling out recovery potential after the earlier "SaaSamageddon" pressure — a clear analyst endorsement that supports upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Comparisons to UiPath highlight AppLovin’s stronger growth, higher margins and better AI-driven monetization, positioning APP as the more compelling AI-adjacent growth pick in some analysts’ views. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage noting that Wall Street favors AppLovin versus The Trade Desk reinforces the thesis that APP is competitively positioned inside adtech and may attract buy-side interest. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several investor-oriented roundups include AppLovin among growth names with notable insider ownership — a governance / alignment positive but not an immediate price catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market reports note APP declined more than the broader market in the latest session, reflecting short-term selling pressure that is driving today’s underperformance. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: An Alger Focus Equity Fund update listed AppLovin among top detractors for Q1, indicating some institutional underweighting or portfolio rotation that can pressure the stock in the short term. Article Title

AppLovin Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of APP opened at $454.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $153.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $432.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $541.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 3.32 and a quick ratio of 3.32. AppLovin Corporation has a 1 year low of $246.00 and a 1 year high of $745.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.AppLovin's revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AppLovin Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.