Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $265.55, but opened at $277.27. Aspen Technology shares last traded at $275.99, with a volume of 612,735 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AZPN shares. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital cut shares of Aspen Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $262.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 3.4 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.06. The stock has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -473.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 965.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Aspen Technology by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.