Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,781 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $2,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in AppLovin by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 2.2% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in AppLovin by 172.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $365.51 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $340.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $122.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 2.29. AppLovin Co. has a 1 year low of $40.71 and a 1 year high of $417.64.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CMO Katie Kihorany Jansen sold 59,876 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.14, for a total transaction of $17,132,918.64. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,017,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,115,402.32. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,919,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,251,618,694.88. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research raised their price target on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on AppLovin from $315.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.29.

AppLovin 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.