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

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

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AZPN. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $250.94 on Wednesday. Aspen Technology has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $254.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.64 and its 200-day moving average is $225.88. The company has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of -432.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $812,459,000 after acquiring an additional 65,143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,156,000 after acquiring an additional 28,820 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,799,000 after acquiring an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Aspen Technology by 5.9% in the 3rd 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. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.