Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Stake Lowered by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,422 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $2,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter worth $66,680,000. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 116.9% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 187,109 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,685,000 after purchasing an additional 10,325 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.69. The firm 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AZPN. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating 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 target for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

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.