Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $29.31 Million Stock Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN - Free Report) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,741 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 17,776 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.19% of Aspen Technology worth $29,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 1.6% in the 2nd 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. lifted 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 buying an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,604 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $104,199,000 after buying an additional 109,783 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 3.8% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company's stock worth $67,567,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Aspen Technology by 5.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 281,961 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $67,338,000 after acquiring an additional 15,744 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZPN. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AZPN stock traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $250.80. 320,684 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 260,053. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $245.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 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 $254.44.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS 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.