GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 58,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,912,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,485,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,957,885 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,781,922,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company's stock worth $1,462,144,000 after buying an additional 573,310 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in AppLovin by 68.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $977,639,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.61, for a total value of $149,844,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 221,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,867,103.49. This represents a 64.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 6,585 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.23, for a total value of $2,437,964.55. Following the sale, the insider now owns 357,903 shares in the company, valued at $132,506,427.69. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,233,254 shares of company stock valued at $446,927,149. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on APP. FBN Securities assumed coverage on AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $433.85.

AppLovin Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:APP traded up $1.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $382.44. 3,526,294 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,052,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. AppLovin Co. has a 12 month low of $60.67 and a 12 month high of $525.15. The company has a market cap of $129.41 billion, a PE ratio of 83.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $295.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $326.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AppLovin Company 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.