Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 651,088 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,594 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.19% of AppLovin worth $25,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,099,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,453 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,057,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 4,805.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,402,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374,066 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in AppLovin by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,041,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,517,000 after purchasing an additional 113,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 989,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,557,000 after acquiring an additional 93,618 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppLovin Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of APP stock opened at $69.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. AppLovin Co. has a 1 year low of $15.70 and a 1 year high of $79.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 69.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.90.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.14. AppLovin had a return on equity of 24.69% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $953.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AppLovin Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush lifted their target price on AppLovin from $67.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded AppLovin from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AppLovin from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on AppLovin from $65.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on AppLovin from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 5,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $323,731.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $743,065.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $323,731.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,739 shares in the company, valued at $743,065.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total value of $3,750,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,371,715.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 61,215 shares of company stock worth $4,416,815. 12.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.