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

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, an increase of 6.5% from the May 31st total of 1,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 212,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.0 days. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 313,105 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $68,931,000 after buying an additional 16,649 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,957,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,166,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 79,514.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,573 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 415,662 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $91,508,000 after buying an additional 8,856 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Aspen Technology stock opened at $195.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -443.26, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.74. Aspen Technology has a 12-month low of $162.26 and a 12-month high of $224.77.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.39. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.76% and a negative net margin of 2.46%. The firm had revenue of $278.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.65 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aspen Technology will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AZPN. William Blair raised shares of Aspen Technology to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $196.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.50.

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.