First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 546,146 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $217,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APP. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in AppLovin by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finivi Inc. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Finivi Inc. now owns 711 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,645,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on APP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on AppLovin from $571.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AppLovin from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. KeyCorp set a $775.00 target price on AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $668.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.06, for a total transaction of $82,620,474.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,785,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,420,090,953.22. This trade represents a 2.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 20,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.89, for a total value of $11,317,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 243,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,055,090.29. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 393,000 shares of company stock worth $197,297,363 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Down 3.8%

NASDAQ:APP opened at $412.48 on Thursday. AppLovin Corporation has a one year low of $349.21 and a one year high of $745.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 3.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $502.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 2.49.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.