AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 3.1% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) dropped 3.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $312.80 and last traded at $317.48. Approximately 3,461,967 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 5,286,038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $327.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target (up from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on AppLovin from $375.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $354.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.55. 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 stock has a market cap of $106.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.89, a P/E/G 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 38.2% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in AppLovin by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.