Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Lowers Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP cut its stake in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,549 shares of the company’s stock after selling 926 shares during the period. AppLovin accounts for approximately 1.3% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in AppLovin were worth $55,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,120,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,926,746,000 after purchasing an additional 166,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 9.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,292,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,084,514,000 after purchasing an additional 367,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kensico Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.1% during the third quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp now owns 3,118,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,240,767,000 after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares in the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APP. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AppLovin from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $660.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $740.00 to $660.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $664.35.

AppLovin Trading Up 10.4%

NASDAQ:APP opened at $567.83 on Thursday. AppLovin Corporation has a 12 month low of $320.00 and a 12 month high of $745.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $521.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $190.76 billion, a PE ratio of 48.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.37.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.12. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating and a $720 price target on AppLovin, helping push the stock sharply higher as investors reacted to the upgraded bullish tone. AppLovin Stock Is Having a Bad Year. Why It’s Today’s Top Performer in the S&P 500.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports also said Meta Platforms is not expected to bid on certain mobile ad traffic, which could leave more market share and pricing opportunity for AppLovin in mobile advertising. AppLovin (APP) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional market chatter highlighted AppLovin as one of the stocks making big moves and one of the day’s top performers, reinforcing the momentum behind the shares. Stocks making big moves yesterday: Allient, AutoZone, Redwire, Marvell Technology, and AppLovin
• Negative Sentiment: AppLovin CTO Vasily Shikin disclosed multiple stock sales totaling tens of thousands of shares at prices around the mid-$480s, trimming his holdings by a meaningful amount; insider selling can sometimes weigh on sentiment. Vasily Shikin insider transaction filings

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 163,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.49, for a total value of $74,331,545.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,969,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,160,545,043.18. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 454,964 shares of company stock valued at $213,046,785 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin 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.