Short Interest in Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) Expands By 33.2%

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, an increase 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. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Albert G.W. Biddle III sold 990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.21, for a total transaction of $32,877.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $974,647.08. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Abdiel Capital Advisors, Lp sold 78,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,942,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $263,367,288.60. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 240,510 shares of company stock valued at $6,648,635 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 44.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Appian

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Appian by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,028,472 shares of the company's stock worth $165,839,000 after buying an additional 23,890 shares during the last quarter. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC grew its position in Appian by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,528,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,396,000 after acquiring an additional 83,000 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Appian by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,263,405 shares of the company's stock worth $41,667,000 after acquiring an additional 83,708 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Appian by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 658,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,722,000 after purchasing an additional 106,023 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on APPN shares. DA Davidson reduced their price target 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on Appian from $53.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their target price on Appian from $37.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Scotiabank began coverage on Appian in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Appian in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Appian presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.57.

Appian Trading Up 10.5 %

Shares of Appian stock traded up $2.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $29.56. 1,301,066 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 552,935. Appian has a 52-week low of $24.00 and a 52-week high of $43.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.90 and a 200-day moving average of $33.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.46 and a beta of 1.78.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $166.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.31 million. Appian had a negative return on equity of 532.05% and a negative net margin of 14.95%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Appian will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.