Stephens Inc. AR Buys 107 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN – Get Rating) by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,359 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 314.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,714 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,840,000 after purchasing an additional 21,789 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 3.6% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,435 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 3.7% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Institutional investors own 44.40% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 1.3 %

AZPN opened at $199.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $215.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.72. The company has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.01. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.48 and a 12-month high of $263.59.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The technology company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.89. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 21.55%. The firm had revenue of $250.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $236.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aspen Technology

In other news, VP F G. Hammond sold 2,495 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.75, for a total value of $558,256.25. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,509,010. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AZPN. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Aspen Technology from $242.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $234.83.

Aspen Technology Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Aspen Technology, Inc provides enterprise asset performance management, asset performance monitoring, and asset optimization solutions worldwide. The company's solutions address complex environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation, and maintenance lifecycle. It offers artificial intelligence of things, aspen hybrid models, asset performance management, OSI digital grid management, and performance engineering; production optimization for commodity polymers, olefins, refining, and specialty chemicals; subsurface science and engineering; and value chain optimization for energy and polymers and specialty chemicals solutions.