Short Interest in AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) Increases By 80.4%

AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in 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 daily volume of 229,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppFolio news, insider Matthew S. Mazza sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.50, for a total transaction of $178,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,566 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,113. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 4,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 represents a 5.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,580 shares of company stock worth $3,164,487 in the last quarter. 5.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppFolio

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AppFolio by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,495,527 shares of the software maker's stock worth $615,696,000 after acquiring an additional 91,174 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AppFolio by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 655,625 shares of the software maker's stock worth $161,756,000 after buying an additional 197,700 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AppFolio by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 653,136 shares of the software maker's stock worth $153,748,000 after buying an additional 49,238 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AppFolio by 881.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 597,485 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $147,411,000 after buying an additional 536,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC grew its holdings in AppFolio by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 572,917 shares of the software maker's stock worth $141,350,000 after acquiring an additional 25,566 shares during the period. 85.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppFolio Price Performance

Shares of APPF traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $217.32. 190,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 319,856. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $246.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.67. AppFolio has a 52-week low of $189.01 and a 52-week high of $274.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16 and a beta of 0.88.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The software maker reported $0.58 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that AppFolio will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut AppFolio from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating and set a $253.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AppFolio in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of AppFolio in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of AppFolio in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.