Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 90.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,967 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 524,715 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $14,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,476 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $14,322,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $358,000. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Trading Down 0.1 %

AZPN opened at $265.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $254.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.54. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $171.25 and a 12-month high of $277.37. The firm has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,314.16, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AZPN shares. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology 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.