AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price Up 1.8% – Should You Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price shot up 1.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $336.56 and last traded at $329.50. 1,613,270 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 4,582,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa America raised AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.71.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $302.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released 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. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.27, for a total transaction of $203,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,715,508.68. The trade was a 6.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total transaction of $17,132,918.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,017,388 shares in the company, valued at $291,115,402.32. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 894.7% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 179,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,906,000 after purchasing an additional 161,107 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 141.4% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 4,399 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 35.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 327,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,279,000 after acquiring an additional 85,886 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in AppLovin by 6.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 13,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by 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.