StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Research analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $251.05 on Thursday. Aspen Technology has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $254.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $248.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.13. The firm has a market cap of $15.88 billion, a PE ratio of -432.84, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,833 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $110,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 15,800.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 954 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its position in Aspen Technology by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,859 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 41.1% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 34,530 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,859,000 after buying an additional 10,058 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.