Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $219.50.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZPN. William Blair upgraded Aspen Technology to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Aspen Technology from $196.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Friday, June 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 65.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 561.8% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 225 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 31,634 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 400 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AZPN opened at $195.04 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.63. Aspen Technology has a 1-year low of $162.26 and a 1-year high of $224.77. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -443.26, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.74.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.39. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 2.46% and a positive return on equity of 2.76%. The company had revenue of $278.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.65 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 5.52 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.