Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Price Target Raised to $240.00 at Piper Sandler

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $217.00 to $240.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the technology company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.77% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AZPN. Bank of America increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $244.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,526.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.46. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $162.26 and a fifty-two week high of $248.00.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The firm had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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 $1,871,114. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 1.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $812,459,000 after purchasing an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after buying an additional 28,820 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,567,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.