Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 443 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 period. American Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $19,928,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZPN. Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AZPN opened at $263.90 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $256.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.78. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $277.37. The firm has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,299.16, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Aspen Technology 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.