StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

AZPN has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital raised their price objective 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 upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

AZPN opened at $251.05 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $248.16 and a 200 day moving average of $227.13. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $254.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -432.84, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. Aspen Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $812,459,000 after acquiring an additional 65,143 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the 2nd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,338,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.