Earnest Partners LLC Acquires 15,012 Shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 607,029 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,012 shares during the period. ANSYS accounts for 0.9% of Earnest Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.70% of ANSYS worth $195,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ANSYS by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,234,642 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,553,058,000 after purchasing an additional 73,585 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of ANSYS by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 522,613 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $167,985,000 after buying an additional 22,836 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of ANSYS by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 423,892 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $136,281,000 after acquiring an additional 6,867 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in ANSYS by 1.1% in the second quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 398,560 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $128,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in ANSYS by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 388,547 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $140,996,000 after purchasing an additional 18,673 shares in the last quarter. 92.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANSS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ANSYS in a research note on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of ANSYS from $345.00 to $335.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on ANSYS in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ANSYS presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.33.

ANSYS Price Performance

ANSS stock opened at $319.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.95 and a current ratio of 2.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $315.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $324.81. ANSYS, Inc. has a 52-week low of $258.01 and a 52-week high of $364.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.13, a PEG ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 1.12.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The software maker reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $594.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.30 million. ANSYS had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 21.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that ANSYS, Inc. will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ANSYS

In other ANSYS news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 159 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.81, for a total transaction of $52,598.79. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,251,123.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.