Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of AppLovin from $630.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Arete Research set a $200.00 price objective on AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, FBN Securities assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, March 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.84.

AppLovin Stock Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ APP opened at $238.22 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $313.27 and its 200 day moving average is $298.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.98 billion, a PE ratio of 52.47, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. 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 has a 1 year low of $60.67 and a 1 year high of $525.15.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This trade represents a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This represents a 16.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841 over the last three months. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 318,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,643,000 after buying an additional 153,248 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its stake in AppLovin by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 6,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,211,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth $228,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently 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.