Baird Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 14,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,233,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 6.5% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 114,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,972,000 after buying an additional 7,001 shares in the last quarter. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth $1,523,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 15.6% in the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 45,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,827,000 after acquiring an additional 6,104 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of AppLovin by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 12,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,358,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on APP shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $580.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on AppLovin from $693.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $740.00 target price on AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $679.85.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of APP opened at $724.62 on Wednesday. AppLovin Corporation has a 1 year low of $200.50 and a 1 year high of $745.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $608.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.73. The company has a market capitalization of $244.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.94, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 3.25.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.11. AppLovin had a return on equity of 258.49% and a net margin of 51.27%.The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 68.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 150,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.91, for a total value of $97,636,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,133,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,643,131,095.72. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 30,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.29, for a total value of $16,070,717.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,553,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,328,384,136.69. This represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 332,577 shares of company stock valued at $194,958,522 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin 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.