Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Decreases Position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Free Report) by 39.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,421 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 73,286 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.18% of Aspen Technology worth $26,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in Aspen Technology by 77.8% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 313.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 157 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in Aspen Technology in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Aspen Technology by 364.9% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 172 shares of the technology company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN traded up $2.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $251.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 333,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,300. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -433.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $243.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.36. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $254.44.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 EPS 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 business had revenue of $215.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $265.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aspen Technology 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.