ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ANSS traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $324.20. The stock had a trading volume of 552,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,439. ANSYS has a 52 week low of $289.82 and a 52 week high of $363.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $337.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 3.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.42 billion, a PE ratio of 49.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The software maker reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by ($0.32). ANSYS had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $882.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $864.46 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that ANSYS will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.62, for a total value of $67,324.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,606.60. The trade was a 5.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ANSYS

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in ANSYS by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,351 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $9,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in ANSYS by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 6,037 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in ANSYS by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 386,708 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $123,217,000 after acquiring an additional 100,042 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in ANSYS by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,289 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $5,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in ANSYS during the 4th quarter worth $255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.39% of the company’s stock.

About ANSYS

ANSYS, Inc develops and markets engineering simulation software and services for engineers, designers, researchers, and students in the United States, Japan, Germany, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It offers structural analysis product suite that provides simulation tools for product design and optimization; the Ansys Mechanical product, an element analysis software; LS-DYNA solver for multiphysics simulation; and power analysis and optimization software suite.