Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $254.44 and last traded at $254.02, with a volume of 123615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $251.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AZPN. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.64 and its 200-day moving average is $220.65. The stock has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of -434.40, a PEG ratio of 2.87 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 expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,120 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,912,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 12.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 9.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,606 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.5% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.