Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $32.04, but opened at $38.11. Appian shares last traded at $37.26, with a volume of 501,794 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on APPN shares. Barclays increased their price target on Appian from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Appian in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Appian in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.17.

Appian Stock Up 21.3 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.86 and a beta of 1.64.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Appian had a negative net margin of 14.88% and a negative return on equity of 532.05%. On average, research analysts predict that Appian Co. will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Appian

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Appian during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Appian in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Appian by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Appian by 1,244.8% during the fourth 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. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Appian in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Institutional investors own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

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.