Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 230 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,732 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APP. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after buying an additional 6,801,138 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth $414,462,000. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AppLovin by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,009 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,350,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,897,000 after acquiring an additional 560,560 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 2,200.4% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 523,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,297,000 after purchasing an additional 500,407 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APP opened at $380.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $127.63 billion, a PE ratio of 115.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 2.30. AppLovin Co. has a 52 week low of $45.12 and a 52 week high of $417.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $347.30 and its 200-day moving average is $224.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. Sell-side analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 $116,526,219.35. This trade represents a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 18,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.94, for a total transaction of $5,740,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $952,673.78. This represents a 85.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 828,991 shares of company stock worth $267,640,144. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on APP. Loop Capital boosted their price target on AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.