Zacks Research Downgrades AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) to Hold

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on APPF. DA Davidson set a $225.00 price target on AppFolio in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Guggenheim began coverage on AppFolio in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $232.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered AppFolio from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AppFolio from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target 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 investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppFolio presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.62.

AppFolio Stock Performance

Shares of AppFolio stock opened at $204.43 on Wednesday. AppFolio has a 52-week low of $142.56 and a 52-week high of $283.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.69 and a 200-day moving average of $177.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.67 and a beta of 0.85.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The software maker reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.02. AppFolio had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 32.42%. The business had revenue of $281.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $277.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AppFolio will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Timothy Eaton sold 373 shares of AppFolio stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.61, for a total value of $75,573.53. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 16,714 shares in the company, valued at $3,386,423.54. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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. Also, major shareholder Maurice J. Duca sold 2,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.85, for a total transaction of $589,233.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,774,800. The trade was a 24.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 176,217 shares of company stock worth $34,157,323. Corporate insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppFolio

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 101.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in shares of AppFolio by 827.8% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 167 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of AppFolio in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in AppFolio by 169.0% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 452 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in AppFolio by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 404 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 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.