Short Interest in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) Increases By 19.2%

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the March 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 738,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

ANSYS Stock Performance

Shares of ANSYS stock opened at $328.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.65 billion, a PE ratio of 57.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.30 and a current ratio of 2.30. ANSYS has a 1 year low of $258.01 and a 1 year high of $364.31.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The software maker reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $805.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.49 million. ANSYS had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 11.83%. ANSYS’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ANSYS will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.08, for a total transaction of $51,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,043,001.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ANSYS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of ANSYS by 1.3% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,260 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of ANSYS by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of ANSYS by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ANSYS by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,071 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance increased its stake in shares of ANSYS by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,523 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ANSS shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of ANSYS from $314.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of ANSYS from $350.00 to $330.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of ANSYS in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.75.

ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.