Aspen Technology (AZPN) Competitors

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) and Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in VRSN or AZPN?

92.9% of VeriSign shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.7% of Aspen Technology shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of VeriSign shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Aspen Technology shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate VRSN or AZPN?

VeriSign presently has a consensus target price of $218.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.17%. Aspen Technology has a consensus target price of $253.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.14%. Given VeriSign's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe VeriSign is more favorable than Aspen Technology.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VeriSign	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Aspen Technology	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is VRSN or AZPN more profitable?

VeriSign has a net margin of 55.74% compared to Aspen Technology's net margin of -3.26%. Aspen Technology's return on equity of 2.81% beat VeriSign's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VeriSign	55.74%	-45.59%	49.06%
Aspen Technology	-3.26%	2.81%	2.56%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor VRSN or AZPN?

Aspen Technology received 63 more outperform votes than VeriSign when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.08% of users gave VeriSign an outperform vote while only 61.78% of users gave Aspen Technology an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
VeriSign	Outperform Votes 388 62.08%	Underperform Votes 237 37.92%
Aspen Technology	Outperform Votes 451 61.78%	Underperform Votes 279 38.22%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, VRSN or AZPN?

VeriSign has higher revenue and earnings than Aspen Technology. Aspen Technology is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than VeriSign, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VeriSign	$1.49B	11.68	$817.60M	$8.60	21.09
Aspen Technology	$1.09B	14.18	-$9.77M	-$0.58	-422.93

Does the media prefer VRSN or AZPN?

In the previous week, VeriSign had 6 more articles in the media than Aspen Technology. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for VeriSign and 5 mentions for Aspen Technology. VeriSign's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Aspen Technology's score of 0.78 indicating that VeriSign is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
VeriSign	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Aspen Technology	0 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, VRSN or AZPN?

VeriSign has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aspen Technology has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

VeriSign beats Aspen Technology on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.