First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,982 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 38,375 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.38% of ANSYS worth $112,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ANSYS by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,643,766 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,590,462,000 after buying an additional 78,730 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ANSYS by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,363,744 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $796,033,000 after purchasing an additional 58,190 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of ANSYS by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,086,177 shares of the software maker's stock worth $703,730,000 after acquiring an additional 511,557 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ANSYS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,566,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in ANSYS by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,097,915 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $370,360,000 after acquiring an additional 75,752 shares during the last quarter. 92.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ANSS. StockNews.com upgraded ANSYS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Price Performance

NASDAQ:ANSS traded up $4.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $320.68. 575,035 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 482,111. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $316.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $331.86. The company has a market cap of $28.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.20. ANSYS, Inc. has a 52-week low of $275.06 and a 52-week high of $363.03.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The software maker reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $882.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $864.46 million. ANSYS had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ANSYS

In other news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.01, for a total transaction of $60,002.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,032.30. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

ANSYS Company Profile

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.