California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Key Points

• CalPERS increased its AppLovin stake by 5.2% in Q1, adding 24,004 shares and bringing its total holding to 488,574 shares worth about $194.5 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on AppLovin, with analysts maintaining multiple buy ratings and a consensus price target of $668.45, despite the stock’s recent decline.
• AppLovin reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates with revenue up 58.9% year over year; however, insiders have been selling shares, including the CEO and a director.

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 488,574 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,004 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.14% of AppLovin worth $194,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 131.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 3,438 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,347,000. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 73.3% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 48,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,840,000 after purchasing an additional 20,609 shares during the period. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,043,000. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,179,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on APP shares. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Argus assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $520.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $668.45.

AppLovin Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $424.54 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $489.19. AppLovin Corporation has a 12 month low of $343.00 and a 12 month high of $745.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.62 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.49.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.06, for a total value of $82,620,474.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,785,087 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,420,090,953.22. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 33,042 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.95, for a total value of $16,089,801.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,755,469.45. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 393,000 shares of company stock worth $197,297,363. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

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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