Highland Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in AppFolio, Inc. $APPF

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,204 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,435,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AppFolio by 94.1% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in AppFolio by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 193,780 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $42,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in AppFolio during the 1st quarter worth $1,289,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of AppFolio by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,869 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,610,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 45,452 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $9,993,000 after purchasing an additional 8,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.19% of the company’s stock.

AppFolio Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:APPF opened at $237.29 on Friday. AppFolio, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.24 and a 1 year high of $326.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $237.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.22. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60 and a beta of 0.80.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The software maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.45 by ($0.14). AppFolio had a net margin of 22.48% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The business had revenue of $249.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that AppFolio, Inc. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APPF shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised AppFolio from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $311.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of AppFolio in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of AppFolio in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on AppFolio in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, AppFolio currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppFolio

In other news, CFO Timothy Mathias Eaton sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.34, for a total value of $118,051.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,307,147.36. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 3,947 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.45, for a total transaction of $949,056.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,390,388.50. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,745 shares of company stock valued at $2,097,550. 4.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.