Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

Key Points

• On Friday, traders purchased a significant 135,980 call options for AppLovin, marking a 114% increase compared to its average volume of 63,411 call options.
• Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of AppLovin stock, decreasing his ownership by 64.39%, as insiders have collectively sold over 1.2 million shares worth approximately $455 million in the last quarter.
• Institutional investors have been actively trading AppLovin stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard Group and Price T. Rowe Associates, which collectively control 41.85% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 135,980 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof114% compared to the average volume of 63,411 call options.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.61, for a total transaction of $149,844,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 221,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,867,103.49. The trade was a 64.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 171,420 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.77, for a total transaction of $64,071,653.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 221,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,681,287.93. The trade was a 43.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,212,968 shares of company stock worth $455,062,980 over the last quarter. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AppLovin by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,724,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,536 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 36.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,745,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769,400 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 29.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185,859 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Kensico Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp now owns 2,879,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,849,000 after buying an additional 328,000 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ APP traded up $21.04 on Friday, reaching $458.38. 8,030,485 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,220,061. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.11 billion, a PE ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 2.43. AppLovin has a one year low of $72.81 and a one year high of $525.15. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $365.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.10.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AppLovin will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APP has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on AppLovin from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on AppLovin from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AppLovin from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $472.33.

AppLovin Company Profile

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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