AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $418.68, but opened at $401.63. AppLovin shares last traded at $383.04, with a volume of 1,375,349 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on APP. UBS Group set a $740.00 target price on AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $720.00 price objective on AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $425.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.77.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $554.89 and a 200 day moving average of $572.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $142.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dawson Alyssa Harvey sold 150 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $693.32, for a total value of $103,998.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,961,402.28. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total value of $5,000,102.17. Following the sale, the insider owned 277,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,097,294.30. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,120,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,926,746,000 after acquiring an additional 166,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in AppLovin by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,904,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,021,721,000 after purchasing an additional 52,377 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,167,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,817,269,000 after purchasing an additional 448,005 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,089,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,103,386,000 after purchasing an additional 212,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,561,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,747,551,000 after buying an additional 538,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.