Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $360.00 to $366.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 15.94% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on APP. BTIG Research upped their target price on AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Macquarie upped their price objective on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of AppLovin from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $338.06.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APP traded down $2.80 on Monday, hitting $315.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,798,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,541,942. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $321.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The stock has a market cap of $105.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.29. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $39.43 and a 1-year high of $417.64.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.33. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AppLovin will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Herald Y. Chen sold 400 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.16, for a total value of $146,464.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 207,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $76,032,757.84. This trade represents a 0.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 593,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.37, for a total transaction of $189,574,199.56. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 3,919,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,618,694.88. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 in the last quarter. 14.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.