AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $320.83 and last traded at $319.05. Approximately 3,869,507 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 5,700,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on APP shares. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on AppLovin from $574.00 to $408.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $500.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AppLovin from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $775.00 price target on AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.61.

AppLovin Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $441.12. The company has a market capitalization of $104.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $3.76. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 193.10% and a net margin of 64.58%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, CEO Arash Foroughi sold 22,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.98, for a total transaction of $11,158,829.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,327,684 shares in the company, valued at $1,152,157,026.32. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 3,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $521.29, for a total value of $1,603,488.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 120,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,786,252.76. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 271,152 shares of company stock valued at $135,295,830 in the last 90 days. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pioneer Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.