Piper Sandler Raises Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Price Target to $217.00

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) had its price target hoisted by Piper Sandler from $200.00 to $217.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the technology company’s stock.

Separately, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $248.40.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $235.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -535.36, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.26. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $162.26 and a fifty-two week high of $240.82.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.49. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The company had revenue of $342.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Aspen Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aspen Technology

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at $1,871,114. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 65,143 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 612,024 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $134,737,000 after buying an additional 44,824 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 153,897 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in Aspen Technology by 3.8% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,567,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

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.