AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $298.40 and last traded at $293.45, with a volume of 1310710 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $283.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $185.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price (up previously from $170.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research increased their price target on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.31.

AppLovin Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.57. The firm has a market cap of $97.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.21, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.86. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 1,500 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.90, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,711.30. The trade was a 12.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 14,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $1,274,656.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 352,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,728,387.68. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 235,542 shares of company stock worth $32,012,275. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 32.9% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 3,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in AppLovin by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 36,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,805,000 after purchasing an additional 12,901 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 318,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,643,000 after purchasing an additional 153,248 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 87,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,420,000 after purchasing an additional 9,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 67,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,826,000 after purchasing an additional 8,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.