Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 2,800 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,806 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in AppLovin were worth $4,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 622.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after buying an additional 6,801,138 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 5,421.4% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,322,682,000 after buying an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the fourth quarter valued at $535,070,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth about $414,462,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on APP. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on AppLovin from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 target price on AppLovin and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $438.28.

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AppLovin Stock Up 7.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APP traded up $20.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $292.89. 10,053,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,185,397. The stock has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. AppLovin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.67 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $357.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.70. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 621,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 322,871 shares of company stock valued at $111,401,882. 14.69% of the stock is owned by 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.