AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Cut to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $150.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $103.00.

APP has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Benchmark lifted their price target on AppLovin from $48.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. BTIG Research lifted their price target on AppLovin from $114.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on AppLovin from $110.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.01.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of APP opened at $143.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a PE ratio of 85.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.60. AppLovin has a 12-month low of $34.45 and a 12-month high of $148.48.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 84.16% and a net margin of 20.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 229,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.35, for a total value of $19,791,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,412,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,067,216.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 154,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.14, for a total transaction of $12,999,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 4,530,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $381,192,483.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 229,200 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.35, for a total value of $19,791,420.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,412,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,067,216.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478 in the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the second quarter valued at approximately $290,655,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at approximately $195,129,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 977.2% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,496,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,736,000. 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.