AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 0.7% - Here's What Happened

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) traded up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $344.09 and last traded at $340.25. 929,275 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 4,593,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on AppLovin from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $202.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $296.40.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $105.06 billion, a PE ratio of 94.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $257.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.02.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 122.24% and a net margin of 26.85%. AppLovin's revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.50, for a total value of $32,620,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,688,365.50. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 1,676 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.39, for a total value of $597,309.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,058,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,090,066,927.65. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 872,896 shares of company stock worth $279,773,021 over the last 90 days. 14.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

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.