The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) had its target price lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $220.00 to $335.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on APP. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. BTIG Research upped their price target on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.29.

AppLovin Trading Up 1.5 %

APP opened at $366.34 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $122.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 2.29. AppLovin has a 52 week low of $40.71 and a 52 week high of $417.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $339.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AppLovin will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total value of $6,348,138.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 405,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,670,155.40. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,919,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,251,618,694.88. This trade represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 10.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AppLovin by 8.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,946,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,418,000 after buying an additional 449,241 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,539,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,077,000 after buying an additional 46,854 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.