Martin Currie Ltd. Sells 5,597 Shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

Martin Currie Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,028 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 5,597 shares during the quarter. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in ANSYS were worth $10,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ANSS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ANSYS by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,643,766 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,590,462,000 after buying an additional 78,730 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of ANSYS by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,703,249 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,179,966,000 after acquiring an additional 106,187 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ANSYS by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,305,554 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $732,672,000 after acquiring an additional 37,577 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of ANSYS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,566,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ANSYS by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 570,525 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $192,456,000 after purchasing an additional 7,098 shares during the period. 92.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ANSS shares. StockNews.com downgraded ANSYS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:ANSS opened at $316.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $335.12 and a 200 day moving average of $334.34. The company has a quick ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. ANSYS, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.82 and a 52 week high of $363.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.38, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The software maker reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.32). ANSYS had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The business had revenue of $882.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $864.46 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ANSYS

In other ANSYS news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.62, for a total transaction of $67,324.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,606.60. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ANSYS 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.