Baillie Gifford & Co. Purchases 1,185,859 Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in AppLovin Corporation by 29.0%, now holding over 5.27 million shares, representing 1.2% of their investment portfolio.
• AppLovin reported a net margin of 37.38% and a revenue increase of 40.3% year-over-year, with quarterly earnings of $1.67 EPS exceeding estimates.
• Insiders have sold over 1.2 million shares in the last 90 days, leading to a significant decrease in their ownership percentages.

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 29.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,185,859 shares during the quarter. AppLovin makes up about 1.2% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 1.55% of AppLovin worth $1,396,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APP. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 210,530 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,176,000 after buying an additional 17,754 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 381.6% in the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 24,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,855,000 after purchasing an additional 19,221 shares during the last quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at about $324,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 171,420 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.77, for a total transaction of $64,071,653.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 221,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,681,287.93. The trade was a 43.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 34,766 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total transaction of $12,294,648.24. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 70,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,069,185.96. The trade was a 32.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,212,968 shares of company stock valued at $455,062,980 in the last 90 days. 13.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on APP shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AppLovin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wedbush upgraded shares of AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, FBN Securities started coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $447.57.

AppLovin Trading Up 1.2%

AppLovin stock traded up $4.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $364.14. 2,880,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,896,801. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $362.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $335.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 2.42. AppLovin Corporation has a 52-week low of $60.67 and a 52-week high of $525.15.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 37.38% and a return on equity of 224.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.