Appian Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:APPN)

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 8,227 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,639% compared to the typical volume of 473 put options.

Insider Activity

In other Appian news, Director William D. Mccarthy sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.78, for a total transaction of $27,146.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,921.48. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in Appian by 72.6% during the third quarter. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,169,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,969 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Appian by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,028,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,839,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Appian by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 972,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,071,000 after purchasing an additional 14,710 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Appian by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 348,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,508,000 after purchasing an additional 14,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Appian by 184.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 201,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,637,000 after acquiring an additional 130,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

Appian Price Performance

Shares of APPN stock opened at $34.10 on Thursday. Appian has a 1-year low of $26.28 and a 1-year high of $43.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.95 and a beta of 1.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Appian in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Appian in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Appian from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.17.

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.