BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Buys 2,049 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 59.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,482 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,049 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,487,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 1,034.4% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 38,445 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,895,000 after buying an additional 35,056 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 11,962 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,633,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,042,000. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 208,585 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,487,000 after acquiring an additional 15,685 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aspen Technology from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.40.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AZPN opened at $237.22 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.33. The firm has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a PE ratio of -539.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $162.26 and a 1-year high of $240.82.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $342.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% 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.