Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) Short Interest Update

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, a growth of 33.2% from the March 15th total of 2,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 555,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 8.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Appian Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ APPN opened at $26.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.08 and a beta of 1.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.49. Appian has a 52 week low of $24.00 and a 52 week high of $43.33.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Appian had a negative return on equity of 532.05% and a negative net margin of 14.95%. The firm had revenue of $166.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Appian will post -0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APPN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Appian from $35.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Appian in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Appian in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Appian from $40.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Albert G.W. Biddle III sold 990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.21, for a total transaction of $32,877.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 29,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $974,647.08. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Abdiel Capital Advisors, Lp sold 78,528 shares of Appian stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $2,080,206.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,942,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $263,367,288.60. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 240,510 shares of company stock worth $6,648,635. 44.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Appian

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Appian during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Appian by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,498 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Appian in the 4th quarter worth about $181,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Appian by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.