Rafferty Asset Management LLC Takes Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 37,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,205,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,485,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,957,885 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,781,922,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AppLovin by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,144,000 after acquiring an additional 573,310 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,010,520 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in AppLovin by 68.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $362.34 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a 52-week low of $60.67 and a 52-week high of $525.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $285.14 and a 200-day moving average of $317.47. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 88,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,359,201.85. The trade was a 16.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,119,470 shares of company stock valued at $409,752,180 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research set a $200.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target (down previously from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $386.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $433.85.

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.