Jefferies Financial Group Issues Positive Forecast for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group raised its price target for AppLovin from $560.00 to $615.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.01% from the previous close.
• The company reported earnings of $2.26 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.21, although its revenue of $1.26 billion fell short of expectations.
• AppLovin stock has experienced significant insider transactions, with key executives selling over 1 million shares this past quarter.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $560.00 to $615.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.42% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on APP. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (down previously from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $480.00 to $491.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued 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, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $482.86.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP traded up $56.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $547.04. 16,486,845 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,063,225. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $402.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.04 billion, a PE ratio of 77.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 2.44. AppLovin has a 52-week low of $84.73 and a 52-week high of $555.50.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 45.72% and a return on equity of 252.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 77.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 26,200 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $440.23, for a total transaction of $11,534,026.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,590,054 shares in the company, valued at $1,140,219,472.42. This trade represents a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 35,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.23, for a total transaction of $17,578,050.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 269,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,579,499.65. The trade was a 11.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,158,288 shares of company stock worth $515,437,023. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,902,795 shares of the company's stock worth $6,267,410,000 after buying an additional 72,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company's stock worth $1,745,752,000 after buying an additional 1,769,400 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,615,415 shares of the company's stock worth $1,965,844,000 after buying an additional 133,402 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,486,000 after buying an additional 1,185,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,011,306 shares of the company's stock worth $1,062,876,000 after buying an additional 992,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

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.