Short Interest in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Declines By 14.8%

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a decrease of 14.8% from the January 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 577,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Aspen Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 192 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 965.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AZPN. StockNews.com started coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AZPN traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $264.78. The stock had a trading volume of 204,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 662,755. The company has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,310.16, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.76. Aspen Technology has a 1-year low of $171.25 and a 1-year high of $277.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $255.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.60.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 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.