Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Short Interest Down 14.8% in January

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a decline of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 577,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AZPN shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AZPN stock opened at $264.78 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 3,310.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology has a 52-week low of $171.25 and a 52-week high of $277.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $255.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.96.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. Analysts expect that Aspen Technology will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,496,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 271.1% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 6,869 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,776 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $555,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 199.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 85,623 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,374,000 after buying an additional 57,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

About Aspen Technology

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.