AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $200.00. The stock had previously closed at $168.55, but opened at $230.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AppLovin shares last traded at $249.29, with a volume of 5,208,085 shares traded.

APP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Loop Capital started coverage on AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $181.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on AppLovin from $105.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “sell” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,307 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $5,472,193.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,164,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,121,489.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $4,826,772.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 254,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,262,490.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 72,307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $5,472,193.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 1,164,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,121,489.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 610,094 shares of company stock worth $51,022,478 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $290,655,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the first quarter valued at $195,129,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 185.0% in the first quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,240 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in AppLovin by 977.2% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,400 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,009 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Trading Up 44.5 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $132.23 and its 200 day moving average is $98.51. The company has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 84.16% and a net margin of 20.89%. AppLovin’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

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.