Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research note released on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on AZPN. Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

AZPN stock opened at $250.85 on Friday. Aspen Technology has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $251.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -432.50, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $238.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.03.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,871,114. This represents a 10.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.8% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,084 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.