Lone Pine Capital LLC Decreases Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Lone Pine Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 54.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,085,113 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,284,753 shares during the quarter. AppLovin accounts for 2.6% of Lone Pine Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Lone Pine Capital LLC owned approximately 0.32% of AppLovin worth $351,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in AppLovin by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company's stock worth $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,781,922,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,462,144,000 after acquiring an additional 573,310 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company's stock worth $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in AppLovin by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,990 shares of the company's stock worth $977,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222,074 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Trading Up 10.5 %

NASDAQ:APP traded up $29.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $308.97. 5,504,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,124,816. AppLovin Co. has a twelve month low of $60.67 and a twelve month high of $525.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $278.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.70. The company has a market capitalization of $105.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.98, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. On average, equities analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AppLovin from $475.00 to $270.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC set a $436.00 target price on AppLovin and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on AppLovin from $630.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded AppLovin from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $470.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of AppLovin from $538.00 to $386.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $415.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 44,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $410.89, for a total transaction of $18,243,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,869,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,179,045,567.88. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.69% 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.