Ascent Group LLC Acquires 1,416 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 34.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,553 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in AppLovin were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in AppLovin by 235.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,499 shares of the company's stock worth $9,876,000 after purchasing an additional 21,419 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,776 shares of the company's stock worth $1,223,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $969,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 30,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,943,000 after buying an additional 5,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,233,254 shares of company stock valued at $446,927,149. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AppLovin from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on AppLovin from $350.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AppLovin from $386.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $433.85.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP traded up $9.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $390.26. The company had a trading volume of 6,710,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,064,973. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $60.67 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $326.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

AppLovin 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.