StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $262.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.01. Aspen Technology has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $277.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 170,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,728,000 after purchasing an additional 39,396 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 15.9% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after acquiring an additional 632,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.