Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,325 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,327 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $2,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Aspen Technology by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 170,350 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,524,000 after buying an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 363,449 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,799,000 after purchasing an additional 171,351 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 31.0% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 166,352 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,728,000 after purchasing an additional 39,396 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 15.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,240 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,550,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after purchasing an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Aspen Technology stock opened at $264.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $261.31 and a 200 day moving average of $248.36. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $277.37. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. Analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AZPN shares. Baird R W lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology 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, Aspen Technology has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.00.

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.