Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases 227,270 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 85.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 492,860 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 227,270 shares during the quarter. AppLovin accounts for about 0.7% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $159,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in AppLovin by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in AppLovin by 4.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on APP shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on AppLovin from $375.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. FBN Securities began coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.84.

AppLovin Stock Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ:APP opened at $236.07 on Tuesday. AppLovin Co. has a one year low of $60.67 and a one year high of $525.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $80.25 billion, a PE ratio of 52.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of AppLovin 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin 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.