Citigroup Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $710.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 15.69% from the stock’s current price.

APP has been the subject of several other research reports. Arete Research set a $340.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of AppLovin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $740.00 to $660.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $664.35.

AppLovin Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:APP traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $613.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,289,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,556,145. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $456.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $520.78. The company has a market capitalization of $206.17 billion, a PE ratio of 52.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. AppLovin has a one year low of $320.00 and a one year high of $745.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. AppLovin’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 9,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $5,431,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 177,450 shares in the company, valued at $106,470,000. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 40,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.85, for a total transaction of $18,717,734.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,430,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,117,625,877.90. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 464,016 shares of company stock worth $218,477,985. 13.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in AppLovin by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.