Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Appian from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Appian from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on Appian from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Appian from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Appian from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.00.

Appian Trading Up 2.4%

Appian stock opened at $38.66 on Tuesday. Appian has a 12 month low of $18.63 and a 12 month high of $46.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -257.72 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.83.

Appian (NASDAQ:APPN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter. Appian had a negative return on equity of 35.20% and a negative net margin of 1.34%.The business had revenue of $203.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.38 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. Appian has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.040-1.120 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Appian will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew Calkins sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $1,687,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,584,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,405,400. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 42.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Appian

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPD Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Appian during the first quarter valued at approximately $94,496,000. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Appian by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC now owns 1,905,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,945,000 after acquiring an additional 296,845 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Appian by 16.5% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,519,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,639,000 after purchasing an additional 215,183 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Appian by 16.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,355,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,692,000 after purchasing an additional 196,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP raised its stake in Appian by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 295,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,470,000 after purchasing an additional 109,682 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.70% of the company’s stock.

About Appian

Appian Corporation develops a low-code platform designed to help organizations build, manage and automate business applications and workflows. Its platform combines process orchestration, data management, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and case management capabilities, enabling businesses to connect information from multiple systems and coordinate complex operational processes.

Appian provides cloud-based and self-managed deployment options, along with consulting, implementation, training and support services.