Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $258.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AZPN. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $290,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN opened at $255.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.95. Aspen Technology has a 12 month low of $171.25 and a 12 month high of $259.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -439.93, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology 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.