Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,656 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $13,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in AppLovin by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the first quarter worth about $33,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lowered shares of AppLovin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $665.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $357.00 price target (down from $575.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $640.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $700.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $565.91.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $315.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $447.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $456.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.54. AppLovin Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $303.17 and a fifty-two week high of $745.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 4.30 and a current ratio of 4.30.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.76. AppLovin had a return on equity of 193.10% and a net margin of 64.58%.The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 33,042 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.95, for a total value of $16,089,801.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,755,469.45. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.06, for a total transaction of $82,620,474.60. Following the sale, the director owned 6,785,087 shares in the company, valued at $3,420,090,953.22. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 393,000 shares of company stock worth $197,297,363. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on AppLovin’s valuation and financial profile. Phillip Securities upgraded the stock, while a recent analysis argued that the shares may be mispriced relative to the company’s fundamentals after reaching a 52-week low. AppLovin Upgraded at Phillip Securities AppLovin at 52-Week Low
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan initiated coverage with a Neutral rating, recognizing AppLovin’s strong profitability and balance-sheet profile while questioning whether its rapid mobile-gaming advertising growth can continue. Bank of America also rates the shares Neutral. JPMorgan Initiates AppLovin Coverage Bank of America Neutral Rating
• Negative Sentiment: AppLovin’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of revenue expectations, and adjusted EBITDA also missed estimates. Management attributed the weakness to slower-than-usual improvements in its core gaming advertising models, intensifying concerns about earnings-growth durability. AppLovin Q2 Earnings Call
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks from Unity and Meta, as well as questions about whether Google could challenge AppLovin’s advertising position, are weighing on the investment narrative. BTIG issued a pessimistic forecast, and another analyst downgrade previously contributed to selling pressure. BTIG Forecast for AppLovin AppLovin and Google Competition
• Negative Sentiment: Quant fund Renaissance Technologies exited its AppLovin position, a potential additional overhang for sentiment even though the move reflects portfolio management rather than a fundamental company announcement. Renaissance Changes Holdings

AppLovin Profile

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.