Baillie Gifford & Co. Acquires New Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 73,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,658,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APP. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 10.5% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,307,000 after buying an additional 1,029,009 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,557,000 after acquiring an additional 382,767 shares during the period. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in AppLovin by 185.0% in the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,305,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,240 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth about $290,655,000. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $195,129,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 154,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total value of $12,999,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 4,530,455 shares in the company, valued at $381,192,483.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $1,274,656.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,728,387.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 154,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total value of $12,999,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 4,530,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $381,192,483.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 404,866 shares of company stock worth $34,670,777. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP opened at $289.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.05. The stock has a market cap of $96.61 billion, a PE ratio of 87.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.86. AppLovin Co. has a 1-year low of $35.79 and a 1-year high of $292.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.28.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $150.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital increased their price target on AppLovin from $181.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.31.

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.