Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a report issued on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

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

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN opened at $249.56 on Tuesday. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $254.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -430.28, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $245.16 and a 200-day moving average of $223.08.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $812,459,000 after buying an additional 65,143 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,567,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,338,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.