AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Raised to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on APPF. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on AppFolio from $325.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of AppFolio in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AppFolio from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.86.

AppFolio Trading Up 0.0%

AppFolio stock opened at $158.63 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.88 and a beta of 0.75. AppFolio has a 1-year low of $155.73 and a 1-year high of $326.04.

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

Insider Transactions at AppFolio

In related news, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 6,963 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,982,111.60. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppFolio

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APPF. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AppFolio by 40.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hudson Way Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AppFolio in the third quarter worth approximately $53,367,000. Greenstone Partners & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in AppFolio in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,647,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in AppFolio by 158.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 281,495 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $65,490,000 after acquiring an additional 172,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in AppFolio during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,425,000. Institutional investors 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.