Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the November 30th total of 1,020,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 395,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AZPN. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 364.9% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 172 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 71.6% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 386 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AZPN shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Aspen Technology from $204.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $258.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of AZPN stock traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $249.32. The company had a trading volume of 219,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,842. Aspen Technology has a twelve month low of $171.25 and a twelve month high of $254.44. The firm has a market cap of $15.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -429.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $246.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.79.

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

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.