Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $27.86 Million Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 111,603 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 54,749 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.18% of Aspen Technology worth $27,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after acquiring an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $70,813,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $66,680,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 171,351 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 345.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 142,897 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,874,000 after purchasing an additional 110,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZPN shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $264.33 on Friday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $277.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $263.75 and its 200-day moving average is $250.32.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 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.