283,671 Shares in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 283,671 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,813,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 965.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Aspen Technology by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $264.33 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.30. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.25 and a 12 month high of $277.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZPN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

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.