Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 487 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,767 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $2,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,728,000 after buying an additional 39,396 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,042,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Aspen Technology by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,082,000 after purchasing an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $249.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -431.33, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $243.79 and a 200-day moving average of $221.65. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $254.44.

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

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.