Nordea Investment Management AB Reduces Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Nordea Investment Management AB lowered its position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 882,192 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 34,924 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 1.39% of Aspen Technology worth $220,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Aspen Technology by 364.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter valued at $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Aspen Technology stock opened at $252.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -436.03, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $247.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.74. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $254.44.

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