Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 7,048 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,631 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,048 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $5,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 valued at $86,799,000 after acquiring an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,728,000 after purchasing an additional 39,396 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,832 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,082,000 after buying an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 15.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after buying an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after buying an additional 28,820 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com began coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $263.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -454.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $264.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.48.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its 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). Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The firm had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.