Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Position Decreased by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 81.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,110 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 51,999 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $3,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 23.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 79,418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,966,000 after buying an additional 15,176 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.5% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,188 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter worth $77,000. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 12.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,120 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,912,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

AZPN stock opened at $264.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $255.05. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

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.