Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Position in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,250 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 334,750 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of ANSYS worth $120,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ANSS. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of ANSYS by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,847 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in ANSYS by 237.1% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,264 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in ANSYS in the 3rd quarter valued at about $311,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of ANSYS by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 21,680 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,906,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its holdings in shares of ANSYS by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 2,877 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 92.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ANSYS Price Performance

ANSS stock opened at $320.91 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $333.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $334.36. ANSYS, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.82 and a 12-month high of $363.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $28.13 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 22.62%. The business had revenue of $882.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $864.46 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANSS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered ANSYS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at ANSYS

In other news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.62, for a total value of $67,324.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,606.60. This trade represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.