Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,615 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,932 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,615 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $3,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 634,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $158,318,000 after buying an additional 632,545 shares during 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,680,000. American Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 187,109 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,685,000 after purchasing an additional 10,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZPN. Loop Capital raised Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Aspen Technology in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aspen Technology currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Aspen Technology stock opened at $264.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.25 and a 52 week high of $277.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $262.36 and a 200-day moving average of $249.17.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share 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.