ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $353.21, but opened at $367.77. ANSYS shares last traded at $365.09, with a volume of 266,429 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut ANSYS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

ANSYS Stock Up 3.2%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $339.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $332.41. The company has a market cap of $32.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 3.66.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $504.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $516.81 million. ANSYS had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 12.38%. ANSYS's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.01, for a total value of $60,002.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $969,032.30. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in ANSYS by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 821 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in ANSYS in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in ANSYS by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,773 shares of the software maker's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in ANSYS by 468.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in ANSYS by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,518 shares of the software maker's stock worth $4,560,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.