StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Investment analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a report issued on Sunday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AZPN. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Aspen Technology stock opened at $264.33 on Friday. Aspen Technology has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $263.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.48.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. Research analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $172,479,000 after acquiring an additional 661,820 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Aspen Technology by 351.6% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 509,410 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,164,000 after purchasing an additional 396,607 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $70,813,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $66,680,000. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aspen Technology

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.