Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Loop Capital raised their price target on the stock from $204.00 to $260.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aspen Technology traded as high as $240.73 and last traded at $240.00, with a volume of 4673 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $236.00.

AZPN has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aspen Technology during the second quarter worth about $2,290,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $548,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Aspen Technology in the second quarter valued at $993,000. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $437,000. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.65. The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -536.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.75.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.49. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The firm had revenue of $342.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $319.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.