First Trust Advisors LP Sells 59,565 Shares of AppFolio, Inc. $APPF

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) by 32.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,026 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 59,565 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in AppFolio were worth $19,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of AppFolio during the first quarter valued at approximately $546,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AppFolio by 7.9% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,723 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of AppFolio by 3.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 296,627 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $46,812,000 after acquiring an additional 9,600 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in AppFolio by 25.1% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in AppFolio by 1.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 43,360 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.19% of the company’s stock.

AppFolio News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AppFolio this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded AppFolio to Rank #1 (Strong Buy), citing growing optimism around the company’s earnings prospects. The upgrade may be supporting renewed buying interest. AppFolio upgraded to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks also characterized APPF as a solid growth stock, pointing to growth attributes that could support attractive long-term returns. AppFolio’s latest quarterly results showed revenue growth of 19.3% year over year, with earnings and revenue modestly exceeding consensus estimates. AppFolio growth stock analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s average price target implies approximately 25.5% potential upside from recent levels. While price targets are not guarantees, analysts’ positive earnings-estimate revisions provide an additional bullish signal. AppFolio analyst price target
• Positive Sentiment: APPF recently moved above its 20-day moving average, suggesting improving short-term momentum and helping reinforce the bullish trading narrative. AppFolio technical breakout
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains broadly favorable, with a consensus “Buy” rating and several targets above the current market level. However, one research firm recently downgraded the stock to “Hold,” while Piper Sandler lowered its target, highlighting valuation and execution risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder Maurice Duca disclosed sales totaling 12,500 shares for roughly $2.27 million across July 17 and July 20. The transactions were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which reduces their significance as a discretionary bearish signal, but insider selling can still weigh modestly on sentiment. AppFolio major shareholder share sales

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APPF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $225.00 price target on shares of AppFolio in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings cut AppFolio from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Benchmark lifted 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. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on AppFolio in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AppFolio from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppFolio presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

AppFolio Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:APPF opened at $186.99 on Thursday. AppFolio, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.56 and a 12 month high of $326.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $165.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.41. The company has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.69 and a beta of 0.79.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The software maker reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.02. AppFolio had a return on equity of 32.42% and a net margin of 15.13%.The company had revenue of $281.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AppFolio, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 3,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $546,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 76,547 shares in the company, valued at $11,673,417.50. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Elizabeth Erin Barat sold 1,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.12, for a total value of $312,761.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,406,695.40. This represents a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 43,357 shares of company stock worth $7,614,340 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.57% of the company’s stock.

About AppFolio

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.