Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires Shares of 213,084 AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 213,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,003,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in AppLovin by 92.5% during the third 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. Chicago Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 172.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $411,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. FBN Securities started coverage on AppLovin in a report on Friday, March 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AppLovin from $386.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on AppLovin from $270.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $433.85.

AppLovin Trading Up 0.8%

APP opened at $354.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. AppLovin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.67 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $293.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $326.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.04, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. AppLovin’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total transaction of $4,228,875.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,233,254 shares of company stock valued at $446,927,149. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.