Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) Short Interest Up 19.6% in December

Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the November 30th total of 1,020,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 395,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aspen Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZPN. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 77.8% during 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 boosted its position in Aspen Technology by 364.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in Aspen Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 386 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of Aspen Technology stock traded up $0.54 on Tuesday, hitting $249.49. The company had a trading volume of 249,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,958. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $246.45 and a 200-day moving average of $224.79. Aspen Technology has a twelve month low of $171.25 and a twelve month high of $254.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -430.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Aspen Technology from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Aspen Technology from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.00.

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.