AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $314.03, but opened at $328.09. AppLovin shares last traded at $329.51, with a volume of 1,146,698 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on APP. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $438.28.

AppLovin Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $354.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,957,885 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,781,922,000. State Street Corp grew its position in AppLovin by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after purchasing an additional 428,419 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AppLovin by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,144,000 after purchasing an additional 573,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.