Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Aspen Technology makes up 2.0% of Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned approximately 6.46% of Aspen Technology worth $812,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 612,024 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after buying an additional 44,824 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,567,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 52.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 293,778 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,657,000 after purchasing an additional 101,586 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AZPN opened at $235.56 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.16. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.26 and a 1-year high of $240.82. The company has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -535.36, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZPN shares. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Technology

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of Aspen Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.