AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) Short Interest Update

AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,925,861 shares, a growth of 45.4% from the January 29th total of 1,324,405 shares. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 524,697 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Based on an average trading volume of 524,697 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppFolio

In related news, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 6,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.73, for a total value of $1,181,829.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,982,111.60. This trade represents a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppFolio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 333,861 shares during the period. Hudson Way Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AppFolio during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,367,000. Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in AppFolio in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,647,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in AppFolio by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 281,495 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $65,490,000 after acquiring an additional 172,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in AppFolio in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,425,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AppFolio from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on AppFolio from $350.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on AppFolio and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AppFolio presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.83.

AppFolio Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:APPF opened at $177.76 on Friday. AppFolio has a 12 month low of $161.13 and a 12 month high of $326.04. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.81 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $205.57 and its 200 day moving average is $235.94.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The software maker reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.17. AppFolio had a return on equity of 29.79% and a net margin of 14.82%.The business had revenue of $248.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppFolio will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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.