Guggenheim Upgrades AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Guggenheim upgraded AppFolio to “strong-buy,” adding to a broadly positive analyst backdrop. The stock now carries a consensus “Buy” rating with a consensus price target of $249.75.
• AppFolio beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations in its latest report, posting $1.71 EPS versus $1.69 expected and $281.12 million in revenue versus $277.35 million forecast. Revenue rose 19.3% year over year.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including the CFO and general counsel, while institutional investors continued to build positions. Institutional ownership stands at 85.19% of the stock.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Guggenheim to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on APPF. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AppFolio from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AppFolio from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on AppFolio from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Benchmark upped their target price on AppFolio from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppFolio presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $249.75.

AppFolio Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:APPF opened at $163.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04 and a beta of 0.79. AppFolio has a twelve month low of $142.56 and a twelve month high of $326.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.97.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $281.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.35 million. AppFolio had a net margin of 15.27% and a return on equity of 32.35%. The firm's revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AppFolio will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AppFolio

In other news, CFO Timothy Mathias Eaton sold 2,585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total value of $413,780.95. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,887,022.52. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Evan Pickering sold 660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.25, for a total transaction of $102,465.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 6,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,017,663.75. This trade represents a 9.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 30,657 shares of company stock worth $5,310,740 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APPF. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 62.9% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,880 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AppFolio by 17.1% during the second quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the software maker's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in AppFolio during the second quarter worth $3,095,000. Evanson Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppFolio in the second quarter valued at $962,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AppFolio by 74.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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