Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,872 Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in AppLovin Corporation by 13.2%, selling 1,872 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 12,260 shares valued at approximately $3.25 million.
• Several brokerages have increased their price targets for AppLovin, with Jefferies Financial Group proposing a target price of $530.00 and UBS Group raising theirs to $475.00, all maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Insider selling activity is notable, with Director Herald Y. Chen recently selling 400,000 shares for about <$strong>149.8 million, resulting in a significant 64.39% decrease in their ownership.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,260 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,872 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in AppLovin were worth $3,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APP. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $294,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 526 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 159,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,732,000 after purchasing an additional 101,180 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 4,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on APP. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $472.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.61, for a total transaction of $149,844,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 221,209 shares in the company, valued at $82,867,103.49. This represents a 64.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 34,766 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.64, for a total transaction of $12,294,648.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 70,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,069,185.96. This trade represents a 32.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,212,968 shares of company stock worth $455,062,980 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP opened at $437.34 on Friday. AppLovin Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.16 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $365.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.24. The stock has a market cap of $147.99 billion, a PE ratio of 62.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.21. AppLovin had a return on equity of 274.45% and a net margin of 45.72%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 77.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share 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.

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