Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Stock Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 48.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,370 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 59,371 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $15,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in 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 valued at $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Aspen Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,928,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Aspen Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,217,000. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $263.75 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.54. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,297.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. Equities research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS 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.