AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on APPF. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of AppFolio from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AppFolio from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AppFolio from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.29.

AppFolio Stock Down 0.9%

APPF stock opened at $179.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.79 and a beta of 0.79. AppFolio has a 52-week low of $142.56 and a 52-week high of $326.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.22.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The software maker reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.14. AppFolio had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 15.27%.The firm had revenue of $262.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that AppFolio will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Elizabeth Erin Barat sold 1,978 shares of AppFolio stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $312,761.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,406,695.40. The trade was a 8.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Evan Pickering sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.25, for a total value of $102,465.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 6,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,017,663.75. The trade was a 9.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,657 shares of company stock worth $5,310,740. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppFolio

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,452 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $9,993,000 after acquiring an additional 8,367 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in AppFolio by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 384 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in AppFolio by 237.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 18,055 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 12,709 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in AppFolio by 164.8% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 654 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 322.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,777 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $14,684,000 after purchasing an additional 50,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.19% of the company’s stock.

AppFolio Company Profile

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.