National Bank of Canada FI Has $6.62 Million Stock Position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 22,963.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,523 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,408 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $6,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 5.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,221 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario bought a new position in Aspen Technology in the third quarter worth $214,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth $377,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $375,000. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AZPN shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital raised Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Baird R W cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $277.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $264.66 and a 200-day moving average of $251.89.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.