Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AZPN. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZPN traded up $0.99 during trading on Thursday, reaching $247.04. 368,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 226,917. The stock has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -425.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $249.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $235.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.15.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The firm had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Aspen Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of Aspen Technology stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at $1,871,114. The trade was a 10.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,550 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,695 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,084 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 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.