State of the Art Shares Take Surprise Rise in Heavy Trading

Shares of State of the Art Inc.’s stock gained more than 18% in heavy trading Thursday. Company officials said they were not sure why the shares rose so dramatically, gaining $1.875 to close at $11.875 in NASDAQ trading. The company announced last month that it will hire 140 employees on the heels of record annual profit of $5.1 million on revenue of $21.6 million. Prudential Securities Inc. in New York last month issued a “buy” order for the stock of the company, which manufactures accounting software.