Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 560 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,014,000 after buying an additional 153,897 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $31,630,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new position in Aspen Technology in the first quarter valued at about $22,110,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 293,778 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,657,000 after acquiring an additional 101,586 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 602.2% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 74,199 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,335,000 after purchasing an additional 63,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AZPN shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital upped 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. Bank of America increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.40.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $235.56 on Friday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.26 and a 1 year high of $240.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $210.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.26. The company has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -535.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.75.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $342.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $319.10 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.