Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Lowered 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 released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AZPN. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ AZPN traded down $0.97 during trading on Thursday, reaching $245.00. 883,949 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 223,227. Aspen Technology has a 12-month low of $162.26 and a 12-month high of $249.00. The firm has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -422.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.01.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZPN. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth about $290,880,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $104,199,000 after acquiring an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology in the 1st quarter valued at about $22,110,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 293,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,657,000 after purchasing an additional 101,586 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is 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.