ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Stock Performance

Shares of ANSS opened at $324.20 on Friday. ANSYS has a 12 month low of $289.82 and a 12 month high of $363.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $337.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $333.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a PE ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The software maker reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.32). ANSYS had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $882.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $864.46 million. Equities research analysts predict that ANSYS will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ANSYS news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.62, for a total transaction of $67,324.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,606.60. This trade represents a 5.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ANSYS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in ANSYS by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,351 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $9,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in ANSYS by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,037 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in ANSYS by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 386,708 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $123,217,000 after purchasing an additional 100,042 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in ANSYS by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,289 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in ANSYS during the 4th quarter worth about $255,000. 92.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ANSYS

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.