AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has increased its price target for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) from $470.00 to $500.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.21% from the stock's previous close, and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• AppLovin has received various ratings from analysts, with 17 giving a "buy" rating and three a "strong buy," resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $449.00.
• The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for its latest quarter, which surpassed analysts' expectations, despite revenue of $1.26 billion falling short of the forecasted $1.37 billion.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $470.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AppLovin from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on AppLovin from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of AppLovin to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $472.33.

AppLovin Stock Performance

APP stock traded up $25.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $463.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,752,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,180,752. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $72.81 and a 1-year high of $525.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $365.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10. The firm has a market cap of $156.73 billion, a PE ratio of 65.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 2.43.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 45.72% and a return on equity of 274.45%. AppLovin's quarterly revenue was up 77.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 171,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.77, for a total value of $64,071,653.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 221,209 shares in the company, valued at $82,681,287.93. This represents a 43.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 100,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.51, for a total value of $36,751,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,760,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,014,461,006.13. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,212,968 shares of company stock worth $455,062,980. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APP. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at $27,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.