Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 6,740 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA decreased its position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,036 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 6,740 shares during the quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $5,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $86,799,000 after buying an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,635,000 after buying an additional 105,254 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $19,928,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $11,217,000. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZPN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $265.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.82. The company has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 3,316.04, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aspen Technology 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.