Sands Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in AppLovin Corporation $APP

Sands Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) by 60.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 817,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,240,847 shares during the period. Sands Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of AppLovin worth $286,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at about $951,541,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in AppLovin by 36.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,588,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,745,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769,400 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AppLovin by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,830,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,724,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,536 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,011,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,876,000 after purchasing an additional 992,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 1st quarter worth $198,050,000. 41.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 35,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.23, for a total value of $17,578,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 269,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,579,499.65. The trade was a 11.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 30,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.29, for a total transaction of $16,070,717.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,553,161 shares in the company, valued at $1,328,384,136.69. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 367,927 shares of company stock worth $212,707,362 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Up 4.7%

NASDAQ:APP opened at $653.00 on Wednesday. AppLovin Corporation has a 12-month low of $200.50 and a 12-month high of $745.61. The firm has a market cap of $220.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.25, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $607.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $484.07.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $630.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $693.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of AppLovin to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $658.27.

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.