Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $265.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Aspen Technology traded as high as $263.64 and last traded at $263.40, with a volume of 327294 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.16.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday. Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 364.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 126.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 270 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 7,575.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 307 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.27. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -455.17, 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). The business had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS 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.