D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Decreases Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,867 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 7,923 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.27% of Aspen Technology worth $33,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Aspen Technology by 1.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $812,459,000 after purchasing an additional 65,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 612,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,737,000 after buying an additional 44,824 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Aspen Technology by 38.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,014,000 after buying an additional 153,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,567,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZPN. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Loop Capital raised their target price on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.40.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Aspen Technology stock opened at $237.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.28. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.26 and a 12-month high of $240.82. The company has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -539.14, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75.

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