Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $204.00 to $260.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aspen Technology traded as high as $240.73 and last traded at $240.00, with a volume of 4673 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $236.00.

AZPN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Technology

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

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2,600.0% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 313.2% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 174 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -536.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.65.

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