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

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AZPN. Baird R W cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $262.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.01. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 3,304.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. Equities analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,831,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $706,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,497 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $172,479,000 after buying an additional 661,820 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,820 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,721,000 after buying an additional 12,456 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 351.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 509,410 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $127,164,000 after buying an additional 396,607 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.