AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of AppFolio from $311.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AppFolio from $350.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AppFolio from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AppFolio in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 target price on AppFolio and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.83.

AppFolio Price Performance

AppFolio stock opened at $179.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $222.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.26. AppFolio has a 1-year low of $176.87 and a 1-year high of $326.04. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 46.32 and a beta of 0.75.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The software maker reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $248.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.56 million. AppFolio had a return on equity of 29.79% and a net margin of 14.82%.AppFolio’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AppFolio will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Timothy Mathias Eaton sold 517 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.34, for a total value of $118,051.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,307,147.36. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Evan Pickering sold 334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.67, for a total value of $81,385.78. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 2,969 shares in the company, valued at $723,456.23. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,745 shares of company stock valued at $2,097,550. Corporate insiders own 4.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppFolio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APPF. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 40.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,166,752 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $321,637,000 after buying an additional 333,861 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AppFolio by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 733,428 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $168,894,000 after acquiring an additional 310,834 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Way Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AppFolio during the 3rd quarter worth $53,367,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AppFolio during the second quarter worth $34,425,000. Finally, Long Walk Management LP grew its position in shares of AppFolio by 78.5% in the second quarter. Long Walk Management LP now owns 276,325 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $63,632,000 after purchasing an additional 121,525 shares during the period. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AppFolio

AppFolio, Inc is a Santa Barbara–based provider of cloud-based software solutions for the property management and legal industries. Founded in 2006 by former software executives, the company went public on the NASDAQ under the symbol APPF in 2015. Its original offering, AppFolio Property Manager, automates accounting, marketing, leasing, and maintenance functions for residential, commercial, student housing, and community association managers.

In 2019, AppFolio expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of MyCase, a web-based legal practice management platform for small to mid-size law firms.