Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in AppLovin Corporation by 6.8%, owning 647,128 shares worth approximately $171.47 million after selling 47,136 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors made new stakes in AppLovin during the same quarter, highlighting interest from the market as 41.85% of the stock is now held by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• AppLovin's analysts have given the stock a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a price target around $482.86, despite reports of the company missing revenue expectations in recent quarterly earnings.

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 647,128 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,136 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.19% of AppLovin worth $171,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, SouthState Corp purchased a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $29,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $480.00 to $483.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $480.00 to $491.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $620.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $482.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.00, for a total value of $58,250,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,283,292 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,014,072. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.49, for a total transaction of $86,498,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 181,929 shares in the company, valued at $78,682,473.21. This represents a 52.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,156,788 shares of company stock valued at $514,863,333 in the last 90 days. 13.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AppLovin Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $571.31 on Friday. AppLovin Corporation has a 12-month low of $97.35 and a 12-month high of $576.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01. The stock has a market cap of $193.25 billion, a PE ratio of 81.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 2.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $419.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.06.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.21. AppLovin had a net margin of 45.72% and a return on equity of 252.67%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 77.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 EPS 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.

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