StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a report issued on Sunday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AZPN. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN opened at $264.20 on Friday. Aspen Technology has a one year low of $171.25 and a one year high of $265.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -455.52, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $252.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.64.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 364.9% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Aspen Technology by 126.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 270 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.