Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $255.54 and last traded at $255.02, with a volume of 120748 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $251.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AZPN shares. 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 initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $16.18 billion, a PE ratio of -440.97, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $250.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.09.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.54). The business had revenue of $215.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.04 million. Aspen Technology had a negative net margin of 3.26% and a positive return on equity of 2.81%. The business’s revenue was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after acquiring an additional 171,351 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 31.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,728,000 after buying an additional 39,396 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,832 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,082,000 after buying an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,550,000 after buying an additional 3,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aspen Technology Company 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.