Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS - Free Report) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,266 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 124,212 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in ANSYS were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ANSS. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in ANSYS in the fourth quarter worth about $695,129,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ANSYS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $615,566,000. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in ANSYS by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,086,177 shares of the software maker's stock worth $703,730,000 after acquiring an additional 511,557 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in ANSYS in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $119,140,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in ANSYS by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,043,975 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $352,164,000 after purchasing an additional 135,400 shares during the last quarter. 92.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ANSYS

In other ANSYS news, Director Glenda Dorchak sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.01, for a total transaction of $60,002.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $969,032.30. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ANSS shares. StockNews.com cut ANSYS from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on ANSYS from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

ANSYS Stock Performance

ANSYS stock traded up $3.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $346.63. 698,889 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,563. ANSYS, Inc. has a 12 month low of $275.06 and a 12 month high of $363.03. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $316.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.21.

ANSYS (NASDAQ:ANSS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $504.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $516.81 million. ANSYS had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 22.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that ANSYS, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

ANSYS Profile

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.