Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 24,697 Shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) by 16.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 177,831 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 24,697 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AppFolio were worth $41,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of AppFolio by 82.2% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 459,285 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $108,116,000 after acquiring an additional 207,204 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in AppFolio by 188.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 185,034 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $45,254,000 after buying an additional 120,835 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AppFolio by 516.6% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 109,850 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,866,000 after acquiring an additional 92,034 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AppFolio by 998.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 60,894 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $14,334,000 after acquiring an additional 55,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AppFolio by 31.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 228,655 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $51,800,000 after purchasing an additional 54,386 shares in the last quarter. 85.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on APPF. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of AppFolio from $300.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered AppFolio from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of AppFolio from $300.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppFolio news, Director Scanlan Agnes Bundy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.42, for a total transaction of $127,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,416 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,354.72. This trade represents a 8.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO William Shane Trigg sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.85, for a total transaction of $804,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,084,060.95. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,064 shares of company stock valued at $6,051,745. 5.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AppFolio Stock Down 1.1 %

APPF opened at $249.05 on Tuesday. AppFolio, Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.29 and a twelve month high of $274.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $234.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.86. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.37 and a beta of 0.86.

AppFolio (NASDAQ:APPF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The software maker reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.26. AppFolio had a return on equity of 30.64% and a net margin of 17.26%. The business had revenue of $206.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. AppFolio’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AppFolio, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

AppFolio Company Profile

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.