William Blair Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in AppFolio, Inc. $APPF

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management increased its AppFolio stake by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 86,272 more shares and bringing its position to 638,241 shares worth about $148.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and hedge funds now own 85.19% of AppFolio’s stock, while insiders own 1.57%.
• AppFolio reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.61 beating estimates and revenue rising 20.7% year over year to $262.21 million; despite a few insider sales, analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $252.29.

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 638,241 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 86,272 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.78% of AppFolio worth $148,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AppFolio by 101.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in AppFolio during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in AppFolio by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 192 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in AppFolio in the third quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Elizabeth Erin Barat sold 1,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total transaction of $312,761.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,406,695.40. This represents a 8.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 3,584 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $546,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 76,547 shares in the company, valued at $11,673,417.50. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AppFolio Stock Up 1.6%

APPF stock opened at $164.92 on Friday. AppFolio, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.73 and a twelve month high of $326.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $160.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.39. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27 and a beta of 0.82.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The software maker reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.14. AppFolio had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 15.27%.The business had revenue of $262.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AppFolio, Inc. will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on APPF. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on AppFolio from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reduced 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded AppFolio from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AppFolio from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $252.29.

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.

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