Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 632,545 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Free Report) by 37,990.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 634,210 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 632,545 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.00% of Aspen Technology worth $158,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,090,314 shares of the technology company's stock worth $812,459,000 after buying an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 worth $104,199,000 after acquiring an additional 109,783 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 89.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,799,000 after acquiring an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,338,000 after purchasing an additional 15,744 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AZPN shares. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Thursday, January 9th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Berenberg Bank lowered Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN traded up $0.84 on Wednesday, reaching $250.75. The company had a trading volume of 439,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,381. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $249.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.15. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $171.25 and a twelve month high of $254.44.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share 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.