Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Shares Acquired by Otter Creek Advisors LLC

Otter Creek Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 345.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,605 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,105 shares during the quarter. Aspen Technology makes up approximately 2.0% of Otter Creek Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Otter Creek Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $3,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 612,024 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $134,737,000 after acquiring an additional 44,824 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 553,862 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $110,014,000 after purchasing an additional 153,897 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 3.8% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 340,166 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,567,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 313,105 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $68,931,000 after acquiring an additional 16,649 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 293,778 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $62,657,000 after acquiring an additional 101,586 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AZPN shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Aspen Technology from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jr. Robert M. Whelan sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.10, for a total value of $219,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,114. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN opened at $225.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -511.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $203.38. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.26 and a 52 week high of $235.10.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $342.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $319.10 million. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 0.87% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current 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.