AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $270.48, but opened at $246.53. AppLovin shares last traded at $243.19, with a volume of 3,162,873 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target (up previously from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $82.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $363.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.97.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total transaction of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,058,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,090,066,927.65. This trade represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total transaction of $5,000,040.97. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 406,047 shares of company stock valued at $140,390,817 over the last 90 days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at $112,000. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,003,000. Brucke Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,000. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.