HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,221 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $290,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 worth $104,199,000 after acquiring an additional 109,783 shares during the period. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 116.9% in the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,635,000 after acquiring an additional 105,254 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $812,459,000 after acquiring an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,322,000. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AZPN. Bank of America upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $246.30 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $244.05 and its 200 day moving average is $221.93. The firm has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -424.66, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $254.44.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The company had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 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.