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

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

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

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. Aspen Technology has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $277.37. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.93.

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

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Aspen Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 965.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 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.