Fred Alger Management LLC Reduces Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,530,729 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,008,738 shares during the period. AppLovin comprises 3.9% of Fred Alger Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.75% of AppLovin worth $819,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 1,640.0% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in AppLovin by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 91 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AppLovin from $386.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Arete Research set a $200.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $433.85.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APP traded down $10.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $328.79. 7,749,047 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,992,584. AppLovin Co. has a twelve month low of $60.67 and a twelve month high of $525.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.