AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Trading Up 7.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) were up 7.5% during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $181.30 and last traded at $181.3990. Approximately 54,924 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 389,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.74.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded AppFolio from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on AppFolio in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on AppFolio in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $232.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of AppFolio from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $225.00 price target on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppFolio presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppFolio news, CFO Timothy Mathias Eaton sold 2,585 shares of AppFolio stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $413,780.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,887,022.52. The trade was a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Maurice J. Duca sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $36,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 81,480 shares in the company, valued at $14,666,400. This trade represents a 0.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,357 shares of company stock worth $7,614,340. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppFolio

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APPF. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in AppFolio by 62.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,880 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AppFolio by 17.1% during the second quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of AppFolio during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,095,000. Evanson Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AppFolio in the second quarter worth approximately $962,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 74.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. 85.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AppFolio Trading Up 4.9%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.82 and a 200-day moving average of $172.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.69 and a beta of 0.79.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The software maker reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.02. AppFolio had a return on equity of 32.42% and a net margin of 15.13%.The business had revenue of $281.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AppFolio, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

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.