Investors Buy High Volume of Appian Put Options (NASDAQ:APPN)

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 11,091 put options on the company. This is an increase of 705% compared to the average volume of 1,378 put options.

Appian Stock Performance

Shares of APPN stock traded up $0.75 on Monday, hitting $30.21. The company had a trading volume of 198,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,947. Appian has a twelve month low of $24.00 and a twelve month high of $43.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.96 and a beta of 1.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $30.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.33.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.10. Appian had a negative net margin of 14.95% and a negative return on equity of 532.05%. The business had revenue of $166.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Appian will post -0.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Appian

In other Appian news, major shareholder Abdiel Capital Advisors, Lp sold 78,528 shares of Appian stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total value of $2,080,206.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,942,140 shares in the company, valued at $263,367,288.60. The trade was a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 2,258,145 shares of company stock valued at $71,160,372 over the last three months. 43.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Appian

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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