Nekton Capital Ltd. Takes Position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Nekton Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 31,600 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,888,000. Aspen Technology accounts for approximately 20.7% of Nekton Capital Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $70,813,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,680,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZPN. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Tuesday. The firm 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.40. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share 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.