Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Appian (NASDAQ:APPN)

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 11,091 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 705% compared to the average volume of 1,378 put options.

Appian Price Performance

Appian stock opened at $30.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of -24.16 and a beta of 1.75. Appian has a 12 month low of $24.00 and a 12 month high of $43.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.27.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $166.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Appian will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APPN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Appian from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Appian from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. DA Davidson raised Appian to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Appian from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.29.

Insider Activity

In other Appian news, major shareholder Abdiel Capital Advisors, Lp sold 10,450 shares of Appian stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.45, for a total value of $328,652.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,736,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,312,641.95. The trade was a 0.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,258,145 shares of company stock valued at $71,160,372 in the last ninety days. 43.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Appian

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Appian in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Appian by 21.7% in the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Appian by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 4,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,498 shares in the last quarter. 52.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Appian

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.