Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

AZPN has been the topic of several other research reports. Baird R W cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. Aspen Technology has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.83. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,831,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $706,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,497 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $172,479,000 after buying an additional 661,820 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,820 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,721,000 after acquiring an additional 12,456 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 351.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 509,410 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $127,164,000 after acquiring an additional 396,607 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.