Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,465 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $7,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 38.5% in 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,567,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised 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 purchasing an additional 101,586 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZPN. Loop Capital increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $245.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of -424.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.26 and a 1-year high of $249.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.68.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Aspen Technology’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aspen Technology

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

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.