Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Given New $265.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) had its target price raised by Piper Sandler from $240.00 to $265.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on AZPN. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Saturday, January 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN opened at $263.79 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.48. Aspen Technology has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $264.43. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -454.81, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after acquiring an additional 171,351 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,338,000 after acquiring an additional 15,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 251,257 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,005,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aspen Technology

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.