Weiss Asset Management LP Buys New Position in AppFolio, Inc. $APPF

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,920 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,560,460 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $595,691,000 after buying an additional 101,466 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AppFolio by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,505,882 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $237,665,000 after buying an additional 259,933 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of AppFolio by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 685,656 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $159,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of AppFolio by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 669,317 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $155,717,000 after acquiring an additional 98,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AppFolio by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 638,241 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $148,487,000 after acquiring an additional 86,272 shares in the last quarter. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AppFolio Price Performance

APPF opened at $168.74 on Tuesday. AppFolio, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.56 and a fifty-two week high of $326.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $164.98 and its 200 day moving average is $173.02.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released 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 business 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AppFolio, Inc. will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of AppFolio from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson set a $225.00 price objective on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AppFolio from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on AppFolio in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $232.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Timothy Mathias Eaton sold 2,585 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,887,022.52. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 3,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,657 shares of company stock worth $5,310,740. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

AppFolio 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.