Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 17,776 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,741 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 17,776 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $29,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 2,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 135 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 313.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 65.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the second quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,871,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZPN. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $246.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of -424.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.94. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.99 and a 1 year high of $249.91.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current 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.