AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Down 5% – Should You Sell?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) shares were down 5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $320.47 and last traded at $326.81. Approximately 1,364,616 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 4,586,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $343.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on APP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded AppLovin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Benchmark restated a “sell” rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AppLovin from $250.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AppLovin from $270.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.40.

AppLovin Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $112.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.03, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $250.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 26.85% and a return on equity of 122.24%. The business’s revenue was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total value of $189,574,199.56. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,251,618,694.88. This represents a 13.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 405,676 shares in the company, valued at $143,670,155.40. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 872,896 shares of company stock worth $279,773,021. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in AppLovin by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,307,000 after buying an additional 1,029,009 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after acquiring an additional 6,801,138 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 7.2% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,557,000 after purchasing an additional 382,767 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in AppLovin by 8.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $703,406,000 after acquiring an additional 428,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 12.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,946,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,418,000 after buying an additional 449,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

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.