Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Appian Put Options (NASDAQ:APPN)

Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 8,227 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,639% compared to the typical daily volume of 473 put options.

Appian Stock Performance

Appian stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.55. The company had a trading volume of 46,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,185. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.57 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.12. Appian has a 1 year low of $26.28 and a 1 year high of $43.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Appian

In other news, Director William D. Mccarthy sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.78, for a total transaction of $27,146.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,921.48. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Appian by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,169,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,179,000 after buying an additional 4,278,969 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Appian by 184.9% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 201,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,637,000 after purchasing an additional 130,606 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Appian by 282.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,584,000 after purchasing an additional 99,198 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Appian by 285.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 71,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 53,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Appian in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,688,000. Institutional investors own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on APPN shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Appian from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Appian in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Appian in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of Appian in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.17.

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.