AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) fell 1.2% on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $446.88 and last traded at $453.30. 3,892,413 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 6,539,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $458.67.

Specifically, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 40,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.85, for a total transaction of $18,717,734.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,430,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,625,877.90. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.04, for a total value of $23,302,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,480,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,972,140.56. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 5,231 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.47, for a total value of $2,497,645.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 30,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,638,275.26. This trade represents a 14.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on APP shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AppLovin from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $465.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $860.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Arete Research set a $340.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $654.50.

AppLovin Trading Down 1.2%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $574.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 57.42% and a return on equity of 245.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,930,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051,663 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in AppLovin by 111.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,852,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,516,471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237,051 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in AppLovin by 3,118.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,194,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,826,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,063,763 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,040,321,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin in the third quarter worth about $1,456,108,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.