Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Acquires New Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APP. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 622.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,893,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,030,462,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801,138 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in 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 approximately $535,070,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $414,462,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 15,971 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.07, for a total value of $5,000,040.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 372,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $116,526,219.35. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 99,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,688,365.50. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 404,371 shares of company stock valued at $139,793,507. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on APP. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on AppLovin from $440.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on AppLovin from $250.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $538.00 price target on AppLovin and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $438.28.

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AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ APP opened at $257.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.78, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $360.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.20. AppLovin Co. has a twelve month low of $59.92 and a twelve month high of $525.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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