Vestcor Inc Buys 15,000 Shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 2,238.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,670 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $3,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Aspen Technology by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,541 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 4,197 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,550 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 1,725 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $171.25 and a 1 year high of $277.37. The stock has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.34.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last posted its 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AZPN. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upgraded Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aspen Technology in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.00.

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.