Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,120 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $6,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,487 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 12,606 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 2.5% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 28.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,889 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZPN. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $250.72 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $244.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.78. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $254.44. The company has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -432.28, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

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