Swiss National Bank Sells 4,200 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 4,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.13% of Aspen Technology worth $20,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Aspen Technology by 965.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Friday, March 14th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

AZPN stock opened at $264.33 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.58. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37. The company 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. On average, analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

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.