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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $251.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -432.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology has a one year low of $171.25 and a one year high of $254.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.29.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 30.1% in the 4th 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. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Aspen Technology by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.