How to buy AppFolio stock | 159

AppFolio, Inc is a software—application business based in the US. AppFolio shares (APPF) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. AppFolio employs 1,370 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$288.8 million.

How to buy shares in AppFolio

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for AppFolio. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: APPF. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until AppFolio reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$159, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of AppFolio, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of AppFolio. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted AppFolio's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, AppFolio's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was USD$159, which is 15.85% up on its pre-crash value of USD$133.8 and 96.27% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$81.01.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of AppFolio shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$678.37 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,200.45.

AppFolio share price

Use our graph to track the performance of APPF stocks over time.

AppFolio shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-14.

Latest market close	USD$159
52-week range	USD$81.01 - USD$180.56
50-day moving average	USD$153.8386
200-day moving average	USD$143.128
Wall St. target price	USD$100
PE ratio	188.186
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$0.862

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Is it a good time to buy AppFolio stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of AppFolio, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

AppFolio price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $159 from 2020-10-19

1 week (2020-10-21)	1.00%
1 month (2020-10-01)	6.53%
3 months (2020-07-29)	13.38%
6 months (2020-04-29)	44.82%

1 year (2019-10-29)	67.44%
2 years (2018-10-29)	165.84%
3 years (2017-10-27)	243.04%
5 years (2015-10-29)	801.87%

Is AppFolio under- or over-valued?

Valuing AppFolio stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of AppFolio's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

AppFolio's P/E ratio

AppFolio's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 188x. In other words, AppFolio shares trade at around 188x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

AppFolio's PEG ratio

AppFolio's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 5.3. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into AppFolio's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

AppFolio's EBITDA

AppFolio's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$22.1 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a AppFolio's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

AppFolio financials

Revenue TTM	USD$288.8 million
Operating margin TTM	4.64%
Gross profit TTM	USD$154.4 million
Return on assets TTM	3.06%
Return on equity TTM	23.33%
Profit margin	10.61%
Book value	$4.214
Market capitalisation	USD$5.8 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting AppFolio shares

There are currently 1.0 million AppFolio shares held short by investors – that's known as AppFolio's "short interest". This figure is 2.6% down from 1.1 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting AppFolio shares can be evaluated.

AppFolio's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

AppFolio's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of AppFolio shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of AppFolio shares traded daily (recently around 165308.88529887). AppFolio's SIR currently stands at 6.19. In other words for every 100,000 AppFolio shares traded daily on the market, roughly 6190 shares are currently held short.

However AppFolio's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of AppFolio shares, or, against the total number of tradable AppFolio shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case AppFolio's short interest could be expressed as 0.03% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 AppFolio shares in existence, roughly 30 shares are currently held short) or 0.0649% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable AppFolio shares, roughly 65 shares are currently held short).

A SIR below 10% would generally be considered to indicate a fairly optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against AppFolio.

Find out more about how you can short AppFolio stock.

AppFolio share dividends

We're not expecting AppFolio to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

AppFolio share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, AppFolio's shares have ranged in value from as little as $81.01 up to $180.56. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while AppFolio's is 1.1478. This would suggest that AppFolio's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

AppFolio overview

AppFolio, Inc. provides industry-specific cloud-based business software solutions, services, and data analytics for the real estate and legal markets. The company offers AppFolio Property Manager, a cloud-based software solution for the real estate market that provides property managers of various sizes and tools and services designed to streamline their property management businesses; and AppFolio Investment Management, a cloud-based software solution for real estate investment managers of various sizes tools and services designed to streamline their real estate investment management businesses. It also provides MyCase, a legal practice and case management solution that provides managing calendars, contacts and documents, time tracking, billing and collections, and communicating with clients and sharing sensitive and privileged materials. In addition, the company offers Value+ services, such as Website design, electronic payment, tenant screening, insurance, contact center, premium leads, tenant debt collections, and utility management services. AppFolio, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of AppFolio is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 3.299% of AppFolio shares are held by insiders and 79.271% by institutions.

• How many people work for AppFolio?

  Latest data suggests 1,370 work at AppFolio.

• When does the fiscal year end for AppFolio?

  AppFolio's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is AppFolio based?

  AppFolio's address is: 50 Castilian Drive, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, 93117

• What is AppFolio's ISIN number?

  AppFolio's international securities identification number is: US03783C1009

• What is AppFolio's CUSIP number?

  AppFolio's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 03783C100