Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 32.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 269,548 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 66,640 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $67,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,831,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $706,755,000 after buying an additional 36,497 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $172,479,000 after acquiring an additional 661,820 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after acquiring an additional 632,545 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,820 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $155,721,000 after acquiring an additional 12,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,813,000. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AZPN shares. Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Thursday, May 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $264.33 on Wednesday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $277.37. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 3,304.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $264.42 and a 200 day moving average of $256.41.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. Research analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 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.