Steph & Co. Cuts Stock Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Steph & Co. trimmed its position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Free Report) by 66.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,020 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,002 shares during the period. Steph & Co.'s holdings in AppLovin were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APP. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter valued at $27,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in AppLovin by 50.0% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 300 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on APP shares. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $385.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on AppLovin from $252.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Macquarie boosted their price target on AppLovin from $270.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark initiated coverage on AppLovin in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded AppLovin from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $338.06.

AppLovin Stock Down 0.9 %

APP stock traded down $3.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $332.01. 2,495,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,135,245. The firm has a market cap of $111.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 2.29. AppLovin Co. has a twelve month low of $39.43 and a twelve month high of $417.64. The firm's 50 day moving average is $327.99 and its 200 day moving average is $185.52. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. AppLovin's quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 18,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.94, for a total transaction of $5,740,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $952,673.78. This trade represents a 85.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 17,925 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.15, for a total transaction of $6,348,138.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 405,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $143,670,155.40. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 888,867 shares of company stock worth $284,773,062 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company's stock.

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.