Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Stock Position in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Free Report) by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,352 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,396 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.26% of Aspen Technology worth $39,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 582,682 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $139,156,000 after purchasing an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company's stock worth $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company's stock worth $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 109,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,567,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company's stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $250.94. 775,634 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,629. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.25 and a 12 month high of $251.44. The stock has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50-day moving average is $238.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.74.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $265.04 million. During the same period in the prior 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. Research analysts predict that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total transaction of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,871,114. This represents a 10.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AZPN shares. Bank of America increased 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.00.

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.