Arizona State Retirement System Lowers Stake in Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Appian Co. (NASDAQ:APPN) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 505 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Appian were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APPN. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Appian by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Appian by 0.6% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 80,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,739,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Appian by 3.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Appian by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 8,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Appian by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 334,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,432,000 after buying an additional 3,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Albert G.W. Biddle III sold 990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.21, for a total value of $32,877.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $974,647.08. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Appian Stock Performance

Shares of APPN stock opened at $30.18 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of -23.95 and a beta of 1.65. Appian Co. has a 1 year low of $26.28 and a 1 year high of $43.33.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $166.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.31 million. Appian had a negative return on equity of 532.05% and a negative net margin of 14.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Appian Co. will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current 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.