American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 996,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,499 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.30% of AppLovin worth $322,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in AppLovin by 1,640.0% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 87 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in AppLovin by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in AppLovin by 172.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 98 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on APP. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $450.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on AppLovin from $220.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AppLovin from $325.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price (up from $480.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AppLovin from $400.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.28.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,230,527,667.32. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Herald Y. Chen sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.65, for a total value of $64,930,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 621,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,675,501.85. This represents a 24.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 306,900 shares of company stock worth $106,401,841. Insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP stock opened at $314.03 on Friday. AppLovin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.67 and a fifty-two week high of $525.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.17, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.98.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.61. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppLovin Co. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.