Short Interest in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Decreases By 14.8%

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a drop of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 577,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.0 %

Aspen Technology stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $264.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 204,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 662,755. Aspen Technology has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $255.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.25. The stock has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 3,310.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,728,000 after acquiring an additional 39,396 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,082,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 15.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after acquiring an additional 3,186 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 632,545 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com began coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

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.