Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Shares Sold by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 456 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 0.3% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 251,257 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,005,000 after buying an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,635,000 after buying an additional 105,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AZPN shares. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $263.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a PE ratio of 3,297.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.54. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. Equities research analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.