Howland Capital Management LLC Sells 2,351 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Howland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,937 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,351 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AZPN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% during 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 89.2% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $290,880,000. American Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology by 116.9% during the third quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 195,271 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,635,000 after purchasing an additional 105,254 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology in the third quarter worth $19,928,000. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ AZPN opened at $274.80 on Friday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.25 and a 12 month high of $277.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $253.88 and its 200 day moving average is $236.64. The stock has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a PE ratio of 3,435.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.76.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Aspen Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $262.00.

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.