AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 707,900 shares, an increase of 80.4% from the January 15th total of 392,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 229,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

AppFolio Price Performance

NASDAQ:APPF traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $216.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 41,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,182. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.73 and its 200-day moving average is $233.57. AppFolio has a fifty-two week low of $189.01 and a fifty-two week high of $274.56. The firm has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96 and a beta of 0.88.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The software maker reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.34). AppFolio had a net margin of 25.69% and a return on equity of 26.21%. As a group, analysts forecast that AppFolio will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppFolio

In other AppFolio news, major shareholder Maurice J. Duca sold 1,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $242,616.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,150,790.80. This trade represents a 10.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 4,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.32, for a total transaction of $1,091,461.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,401,944.24. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,090 shares of company stock worth $3,739,804 over the last three months. 5.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppFolio

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APPF. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AppFolio by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 117 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 193.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 167 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in shares of AppFolio during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 10,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 208 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AppFolio by 1,485.7% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 85.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp cut shares of AppFolio from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating and set a $253.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.29.

About AppFolio

AppFolio, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud business management solutions for the real estate industry in the United States. The company provides a cloud-based platform that enables users to automate and optimize common workflows; tools that assist with leasing, maintenance, and accounting; and other technology and services offered by third parties.