Short Interest in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Expands By 5.8%

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 1,370,000 shares. Approximately 5.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 206,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,336,062 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,047,795,000 after buying an additional 51,393 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 26.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,820,843 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,013,697 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 3.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,721,956 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $760,247,000 after buying an additional 124,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,812,165 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $299,678,000 after buying an additional 36,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 103,662.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,567,858 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $322,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $200.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $198.12 and its 200-day moving average is $196.55. Aspen Technology has a twelve month low of $161.32 and a twelve month high of $242.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -148.48, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.77.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.06). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.38% and a negative net margin of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $257.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $259.70 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AZPN. StockNews.com raised Aspen Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.25.

Aspen Technology Company Profile

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.