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

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AZPN. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $246.88 on Thursday. Aspen Technology has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $249.91. The company has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -425.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.70.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Aspen Technology’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aspen Technology

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 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 in the company, valued at $1,871,114. This trade represents a 10.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.