AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) Short Interest Down 11.4% in April

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,850,000 shares, a decrease of 11.4% from the March 31st total of 24,650,000 shares. Currently, 13.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

AppLovin Trading Up 6.7 %

NASDAQ:APP traded up $4.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.82. 5,381,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,326,516. 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 has a 12 month low of $15.70 and a 12 month high of $79.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.82, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.13 and a 200 day moving average of $50.03.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. AppLovin had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 24.69%. The business had revenue of $953.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.21) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that AppLovin will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.01, for a total transaction of $3,750,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,371,715.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 471,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,371,715.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Craig Scott Billings sold 5,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 12,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $743,065.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,215 shares of company stock valued at $4,416,815. Company insiders own 12.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $479,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,038,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 24,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth about $277,000. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on APP shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $67.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $59.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $65.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.31.

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.