GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Buys Shares of 4,650 Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. acquired a new stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,650 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,161,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZPN. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aspen Technology by 2,272.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 690,940 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $172,479,000 after buying an additional 661,820 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Aspen Technology by 37,990.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 632,545 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $70,813,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $66,680,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Aspen Technology by 89.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 45.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aspen Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 3,304.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $171.25 and a fifty-two week high of $277.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.42.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a net margin of 0.54% and a return on equity of 3.17%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZPN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital raised shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aspen Technology in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W lowered Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aspen Technology has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.00.

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.