Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,470,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the August 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 215,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZPN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on 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 upped their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.40.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $236.01 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $215.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of -542.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75. Aspen Technology has a 12 month low of $162.26 and a 12 month high of $240.82.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $342.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.10 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aspen Technology

In related news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,487,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1,034.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 38,445 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,895,000 after buying an additional 35,056 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 203.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 5,428 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 11,117 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Company 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.