Strategic Global Advisors LLC Sells 7,965 Shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Strategic Global Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,965 shares during the period. Strategic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $4,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in APP. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in AppLovin by 5,421.4% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,084,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,322,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010,520 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 4th quarter worth $828,138,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 457.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,893,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,888,000 after buying an additional 2,373,885 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. HSBC set a $436.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $425.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $335.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down from $560.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $433.85.

AppLovin Stock Performance

APP opened at $362.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $123.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $285.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $318.48. AppLovin Co. has a 52-week low of $60.67 and a 52-week high of $525.15.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. AppLovin’s revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.61, for a total value of $149,844,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 221,209 shares in the company, valued at $82,867,103.49. This represents a 64.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $371.12, for a total transaction of $211,538.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,312,448.72. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,119,470 shares of company stock valued at $409,752,180 over the last ninety days. 14.69% of the stock is currently 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.