Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Berenberg Bank

Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $245.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -422.41, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology has a 12 month low of $162.26 and a 12 month high of $249.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.24.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). The business had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aspen Technology

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Aspen Technology in the third quarter valued at about $290,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP purchased a new position in Aspen Technology during the first quarter worth about $22,110,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 52.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 293,778 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $62,657,000 after acquiring an additional 101,586 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.