Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Stock

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $217.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the technology company's stock. Piper Sandler's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.41% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital upped 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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 upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AZPN traded up $3.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $241.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,419,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 212,387. Aspen Technology has a one year low of $162.26 and a one year high of $248.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,504.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $233.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.94.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a positive return on equity of 2.96% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The firm's revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aspen Technology will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aspen Technology news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 2,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 135 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 174 shares of the technology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in Aspen Technology during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.