Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $425.00 to $455.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 38.39% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $475.00 to $270.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $630.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday. HSBC set a $436.00 target price on AppLovin and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $433.85.

AppLovin Stock Performance

AppLovin stock opened at $328.79 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.54. 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 has a 52 week low of $60.67 and a 52 week high of $525.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.42, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. AppLovin had a net margin of 33.54% and a return on equity of 188.55%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 40.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total transaction of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 621,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. The trade was a 24.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total transaction of $18,999,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in AppLovin by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 602,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,720,000 after acquiring an additional 147,291 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the first quarter valued at about $315,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 5.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,018,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,955,000 after purchasing an additional 53,637 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in AppLovin in the first quarter worth about $4,611,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in AppLovin by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 395,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,690,000 after buying an additional 47,000 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.