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

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APPN has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Appian in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on Appian from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Appian in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.17.

Appian Price Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 1.64.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $166.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Appian Co. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Appian

In other news, Director William D. Mccarthy sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Appian by 285.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 71,771 shares of the company's stock worth $2,451,000 after acquiring an additional 53,172 shares in the last quarter. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Appian by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,169,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278,969 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Appian by 282.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,584,000 after buying an additional 99,198 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Appian by 88.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 70,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,412,000 after buying an additional 33,232 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Appian by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 75,097 shares of the company's stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 18,729 shares in the last quarter. 52.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.