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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) from a "hold" to a "buy"; eight analysts now rate it Buy and one rates it Hold, leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $270.83.
• Recent quarter beat expectations: AppFolio reported EPS of $1.39 vs. $1.22 expected and revenue of $248.19M vs. $246.56M, with revenue up 21.7% year‑over‑year and a net margin of 14.82%.
• Insider and institutional activity: CEO William Shane Trigg sold 6,963 shares at an average $169.73 (reducing his stake by 11.63%); insiders own 4.68% of the company while institutions hold about 85.19%.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on AppFolio from $311.00 to $290.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on AppFolio from $325.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AppFolio from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $260.00 price objective on AppFolio and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.83.

AppFolio Price Performance

Shares of APPF stock opened at $172.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $195.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.94. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.46 and a beta of 0.75. AppFolio has a 1 year low of $161.13 and a 1 year high of $326.04.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The software maker reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.17. AppFolio had a net margin of 14.82% and a return on equity of 29.79%. The business had revenue of $248.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. AppFolio's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AppFolio will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppFolio news, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 6,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.73, for a total transaction of $1,181,829.99. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AppFolio

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AppFolio by 101.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppFolio during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AppFolio by 2,116.7% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the software maker's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of AppFolio during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 373.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 142 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.19% of the company's stock.

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.

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