Appian Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:APPN)

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 11,091 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 705% compared to the typical volume of 1,378 put options.

Appian Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:APPN opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. Appian has a 52 week low of $24.00 and a 52 week high of $43.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.16 and a beta of 1.75.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.10. Appian had a negative return on equity of 532.05% and a negative net margin of 14.95%. The company had revenue of $166.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Appian’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Appian will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Abdiel Capital Advisors, Lp sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.01, for a total transaction of $44,814.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,199,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $294,460,022.01. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,258,145 shares of company stock worth $71,160,372 over the last three months. Insiders own 43.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Appian

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APPN. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Appian during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Appian by 21.7% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Appian by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Appian by 2,052.0% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Appian by 1,244.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,498 shares during the last quarter. 52.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Appian to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Appian from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Appian from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Appian from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Appian from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.29.

Appian Company Profile

Appian Corporation, a software company that provides low-code design platform in the United States, Mexico, Portugal, and internationally. The company's platform offers artificial intelligence, process automation, data fabric, and process mining. It provides The Appian Platform, an integrated automation platform that enables organizations to design, automate, and optimize mission-critical business processes.