Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Stake Raised by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 41,158 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $10,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Aspen Technology in the second quarter worth approximately $3,991,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $437,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the second quarter valued at $2,290,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AZPN. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday. Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $263.79 on Thursday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $264.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.48. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of -454.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Aspen Technology 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.