Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stake in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in AppLovin by 312.0% in the fourth quarter to 6,123 shares, valued at about $4.13 million.
• Insiders sold a total of 365,244 shares last quarter—including Director Eduardo Vivas' 163,910-share sale (~$74.3M) and CTO Vasily Shikin's 62,804-share sale (~$30.5M)—leaving insiders with roughly 13.66% ownership.
• AppLovin posted strong quarterly results (EPS $3.24 vs. $2.89 expected; revenue $1.66B, up 66% YoY), trades at a market cap of about $155.15B, and has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $673.25 target.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 312.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,123 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,637 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in AppLovin were worth $4,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APP. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter worth $29,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 760.0% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 58.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,969,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,160,545,043.18. The trade was a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 62,804 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.43, for a total transaction of $30,549,749.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,255,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,583,462,445.39. The trade was a 1.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 365,244 shares of company stock valued at $169,584,607. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $460.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 3.32 and a quick ratio of 3.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $437.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $535.89. AppLovin Corporation has a 1 year low of $286.85 and a 1 year high of $745.61. The stock has a market cap of $155.15 billion, a PE ratio of 47.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 2.37.

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. AppLovin had a net margin of 57.42% and a return on equity of 245.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Argus assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $520.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AppLovin from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $720.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of AppLovin from $820.00 to $710.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $673.25.

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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