AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading 2.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price traded up 2.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $643.58 and last traded at $632.92. 2,893,198 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 4,233,429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on APP shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $771.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer set a $740.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $580.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $695.90.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $213.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 2.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $638.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $539.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 51.27% and a return on equity of 258.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 68.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total value of $14,803,249.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,323,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,812,669,143.78. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total transaction of $5,000,102.17. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at $182,097,294.30. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,336 shares of company stock worth $200,062,623. 13.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in AppLovin by 2.8% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 2,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.