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

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

AZPN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $249.95 on Wednesday. Aspen Technology has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $254.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of -430.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $812,459,000 after buying an additional 65,143 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after acquiring an additional 28,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after acquiring an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.9% in the third 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.