Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) Position Increased by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN - Free Report) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 524,501 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,122 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.64% of Aspen Aerogels worth $6,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,360,246 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,800,000 after buying an additional 226,251 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Aspen Aerogels by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,764 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 15,462 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 128,800 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aspen Aerogels by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,782 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Aspen Aerogels in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,909,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASPN shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Aspen Aerogels from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down from $13.00) on shares of Aspen Aerogels in a report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Aspen Aerogels from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aspen Aerogels presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.44.

Aspen Aerogels Stock Down 7.1%

Shares of NYSE ASPN traded down $0.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.97. 2,347,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,004,990. The business's 50-day moving average price is $5.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.43. Aspen Aerogels, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.16 and a twelve month high of $33.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $489.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28 and a beta of 2.72.

Aspen Aerogels (NYSE:ASPN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The construction company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Aspen Aerogels had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The business had revenue of $78.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aspen Aerogels, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aspen Aerogels

In related news, CEO Donald R. Young purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.35 per share, with a total value of $107,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 550,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,947,079.60. The trade was a 3.77% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

About Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aerogel insulation products primarily for use in the energy infrastructure and sustainable insulation materials markets in the United States, Asia, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. It operates in two segments, Energy Industrial and Thermal Barrier.