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

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

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

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $262.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.32. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,304.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $172,479,000 after buying an additional 661,820 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after acquiring an additional 632,545 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 351.6% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 509,410 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $127,164,000 after purchasing an additional 396,607 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aspen Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $70,813,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Aspen Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $66,680,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.