Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 1,045 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,420 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $7,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 worth $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after buying an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,338,000 after buying an additional 15,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 0.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 251,257 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,005,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

AZPN stock opened at $264.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $251.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.27. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -455.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $264.43.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AZPN shares. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.00.

About Aspen Technology

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.