Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,547 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,439 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $4,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 153,897 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $290,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 1.6% during 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. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $14,322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aspen Technology

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,871,114. This trade represents a 10.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $250.85 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $238.78 and its 200-day moving average is $217.40. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $251.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.00.

About Aspen Technology

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.