Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AZPN. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $250.00 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $240.40 and a 200 day moving average of $219.15. Aspen Technology has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $254.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -431.03, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $812,459,000 after purchasing an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after buying an additional 28,820 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,014,000 after buying an additional 153,897 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,567,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Company Profile

Aspen Technology, Inc provides industrial software that focuses on helping customers in asset-intensive industries worldwide. The company’s solutions address complex environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation, and maintenance lifecycle. Its software is used in performance engineering, modeling and design, supply chain management, predictive and prescriptive maintenance, digital grid management, and industrial data management.