Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,180,000 shares, a decrease of 12.6% from the October 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 316,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Loop Capital upped 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Institutional Trading of Aspen Technology

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 1,034.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 38,445 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $7,895,000 after purchasing an additional 35,056 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 2nd quarter worth $3,042,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,728,000 after buying an additional 39,396 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 89.4% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,114 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company's stock worth $139,156,000 after acquiring an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN remained flat at $250.00 on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 133,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,349. Aspen Technology has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $254.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $240.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.15.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.54). Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.81% and a negative net margin of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aspen Technology 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.