AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded AppFolio from “strong buy” to “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “moderate buy” with a $246.62 target price.
• AppFolio shares opened at $204.43, down 2.7%, despite quarterly results that exceeded estimates: EPS was $1.71 versus $1.69 expected, and revenue rose 19.3% year over year to $281.12 million.
• Insiders sold 176,217 shares worth approximately $34.2 million over the last quarter, while institutional investors own 85.19% of the company’s stock.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on APPF. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AppFolio from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $232.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AppFolio from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 target price on shares of AppFolio in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of AppFolio from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $246.62.

AppFolio Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of APPF opened at $204.43 on Wednesday. AppFolio has a fifty-two week low of $142.56 and a fifty-two week high of $283.14. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 46.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company's fifty day moving average is $203.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.24.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The software maker reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $281.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AppFolio will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Maurice Duca sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.72, for a total transaction of $1,308,384.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,198 shares in the company, valued at $6,214,460.56. The trade was a 17.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,217 shares of company stock worth $34,157,323. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppFolio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 20.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,505,882 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $237,665,000 after acquiring an additional 259,933 shares in the last quarter. Nellore Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AppFolio by 2.9% during the second quarter. Nellore Capital Management LLC now owns 654,865 shares of the software maker's stock worth $105,008,000 after acquiring an additional 18,563 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AppFolio by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 472,491 shares of the software maker's stock worth $109,947,000 after purchasing an additional 11,588 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in AppFolio by 6.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 384,529 shares of the software maker's stock worth $60,686,000 after purchasing an additional 23,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in AppFolio by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 345,603 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $54,543,000 after purchasing an additional 61,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.19% of the company's stock.

AppFolio Company Profile

AppFolio, Inc provides cloud-based software and technology solutions for the real estate industry. Its platform is designed to help property managers and real estate businesses manage core operations, including accounting, leasing, maintenance, communications, payments, reporting and resident services.

The company's AppFolio Property Manager platform serves a range of property types, including residential, commercial, student housing and community associations. AppFolio also offers solutions for real estate investment management, along with workflow automation, data and reporting tools, online payment processing and other services intended to help customers operate more efficiently and improve the experience for owners, residents and tenants.

AppFolio was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

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