Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $217.00 to $240.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Approximately 507,863 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 138% from the previous session’s volume of 213,172 shares.The stock last traded at $242.50 and had previously closed at $241.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AZPN. Bank of America raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.6% in the second 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 stake in Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 38.5% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,567,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $234.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.68. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -424.09, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.