1,824,819 Shares in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,824,819 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $615,566,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in ANSYS by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,643,766 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,590,462,000 after buying an additional 78,730 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of ANSYS by 3.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,703,249 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,179,966,000 after purchasing an additional 106,187 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ANSYS by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,305,554 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $732,672,000 after purchasing an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ANSYS by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 570,525 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $192,456,000 after purchasing an additional 7,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ANSYS by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 553,193 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $186,609,000 after purchasing an additional 21,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ANSYS

In other news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.62, for a total value of $67,324.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,606.60. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ANSS shares. StockNews.com cut shares of ANSYS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of ANSS stock opened at $316.89 on Friday. ANSYS, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.82 and a 52-week high of $363.03. The stock has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.38, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $335.12 and its 200-day moving average is $334.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a current ratio of 3.01.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The software maker reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.32). ANSYS had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $882.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $864.46 million. Sell-side analysts predict that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.