Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Stock Holdings Lifted by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,631 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 7,048 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $5,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $86,799,000 after buying an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth about $290,880,000. American Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,635,000 after acquiring an additional 105,254 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Aspen Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $19,928,000. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Baird R W lowered Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Saturday, January 25th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $261.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of AZPN traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $264.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 441,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 616,536. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -456.03, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $265.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.48.

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 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Aspen Technology

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.